Superstitions (Rewrite)
by RusEmp
Summary: Danny Fenton never could be called someone significant in his small town. Tired of living such life, he makes a choice which leads to gaining power never seen before by humanity. But the questions are, how a simple son of a blacksmith would use this power? And to what consequences it would lead?
1. Chapter I: Making a decision

"Daniel James Fenton, if you don't wake up I'll splash a bucket of water on you!"

The named teen jumped on his bed out of surprise and hit the wooden beam above his head. Danny hissed in pain and rubbed his sore place, cursing that damn decorative mistake for god knows what time. There sure would be a bump on his forehead. Again. The boy opened his eyes, revealing two ice blue orbs. Slowly rolling around on a straw stuffed matress and avoiding hitting the same beam twice, Danny got into sitting position on his bed.

The boy covered his mouth to hide his yawn and stretched his muscles a bit. Then he got up from the bed and walked to a small shelf where his clothes were laying. First Danny put on the dirty gray linen braies, a white tunic, which he kept close to his waist by using thin brown belt. Personally the boy thought that the tunic could use a few additions, maybe a red circle on the chest or something like that. A real torture worthy of the Inquisition was putting the brown leather boots on his bare feet. Well, at least his family could afford to purchase several pairs, one for each member. They were rather new, but the intention was to keep them for years.

Running a hand through his raven spiky hair, Danny took a brief look on his room. It wasn't exactly spacey, eight square meters. Fentons couldn't be called rich, but they weren't poor either. Eight square meters were enough, considering that there were three bedrooms in general. Danny's bedroom could fit the bed itself and two shelves, one for clothes and one for the boy's own belongings. The entire furniture was made from the same light brown oak wood. Nothing fancy, but they completed their purpose well.

The boy didn't have time to go through the doorway, when he suddenly saw an obstacle on his way.

"Oh, hey, Mom," Danny said, smiling nervously, "I'm up."

Maddie sighed. "The breakfast is on the table, Danny. Come eat before it cools off."

She was a woman in her late thirties. Except having a few small wrinkles and grayed hair, Maddie didn't look her age at all. She had short brown hair reaching her neck. The mother of the family was wearing a light dress made from wool, dyed in a blue color. It had fine quality, while not being fancy, which showed the status of an average middle class denizens of Northern Europe.

"Alright, I'm going," Danny answered.

When Maddie walked in direction of her room, Danny sighed in relief and went down the corridor in the opposite direction. A few seconds later he flopped on a wooden chair in the main room. In one corner was a white stone stove with a chimney above it. There were several smoking pots and kettles with food, which smelled deliciously. In another corner were stacked multiple pieces of junk: metal, wood, it didn't matter much, the corner would be empty soon. On the table stood several plates with food and a jug, probably with water.

Danny started eating the oat porridge, when he heard a cough nearby. He looked up and noticed that he wasn't alone. Near him was a young nineteen year old woman with long red hair and teal eyes. She was wearing a dress of a similar color as her eyes.

"You will choke if you keep eating like that," the woman crossed her hands.

"Sorry, Jazz," Danny gulped what remained in his mouth. "I'm just hungry."

Jazz huffed, before noticing something. "Where did this scratch come from?" She asked calmly.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I...was caught by a dog," he said and pulled the sleeve over the wound.

"I don't want to say that, but I told you that your night adventures may end badly one day."

"Jazz, I'm an adult. Can't I do what I want to?"

"Not if that is dangerous."

The young man sighed. "Just don't tell Mom and Dad."

"If it keeps going, I won't have any choice. I don't want you to get hurt, you know that, Danny."

"I know, I know.."

Then Maddie entered the dining room and went to the cooking spot. While fussing around the stove, the woman glanced back at her son.

"Can you bring the breakfast to your father, sweetie?" She asked.

Danny nodded and got up from his seat, before coming closer. Maddie gave him a small pot wrapped in a wet piece of cloth, so he won't get any nasty burns. Danny was holding the pot with two hands for comfort, so Maddie put a piece of bread on top.

The young man carried the food out of the house, where he took a breath of fresh air. Living on the city's outskirts had pros and cons. It was void of the casual noise of the city center, and the view on emerald grasslands was very refreshing, especially in the morning. Danny walked a few meters away from the doorway, through the front yard, marked by high wooden fence. He got to the small building without walls, where his father's workshop was. There was everything a blacksmith could desire: multiple instruments, anvil, melting stove. Danny heard steady sounds of hammer hitting the metal.

He looked to the direction of the sounds and saw his father at work. He was huge, two meters tall. Jack had been working near the forge his entire life, and he became very muscular, but it was hidden beneath a thick layer of fat, he liked eating, and ham was among his favorites. Danny hoped to gain some muscles too, but at the moment he was a simple helper. The man had black hair and blue eyes and was wearing an orange tunic underneath a black smithing apron. Jack finally noticed his son's presence.

"Morning, Danny-boy!" He said cheerfully, temporarily stopping from his work.

"Morning, Dad. I brought your breakfast," Danny smiled.

"That's great, son. Put it on the table," Jack responded, returning to smithing. "Can I ask you about a favor?"

"I actually planned to..."

"Don't worry, it won't take much time. Can you go to the tavern and fetch me a mug of beer for breakfast? You are going to the town, anyway."

Danny nodded. "Alright, see you!" He called, going out of the yard.

"Ask for the one from the basement!" Jack called after him.

The path to Amity Park's more inhabited area was short. It wasn't big, at least compared to the closest center of power with the population counting about eight hundred denizens. Danny walked through the wide streets, which had already filled with life. Merchants kept shouting over the loud bickering of the common folk, trying to sell their vegetables and other goods. Wagons were pulled around by donkeys or horses, trying to get through the sticky and wet substance some people called the road. Just a normal day, like many others. Danny entered one of the white buildings, which had a wooden signboard with an image of the mug.

It was poorly lit by a few candles and the light coming from a few windows. The dark wooden planks and furniture only made the atmosphere more gloomy. Not to mention the smell of the place: hurl and the scent of the cheap alcohol being present in a harmonious and nasty mix. However, the tavern was full of people, anyway. Why not? The place had the cheapest ale in all northern England, and unlike others, it was actually edible. Danny walked to the counter and drummed on it with the bones of his fingers. Immediately the owner, with brown hair and green eyes, appeared and beamed.

"Hey, Danny, your old man needs a refill, huh?" He asked.

"Yeah, can I..."

"I have one," The owner took a mug from beneath the table. "Jack is too predictable."

Danny snorted. "You telling me. Thanks, I'll get going."

The tavern owner owed Jack several shillings, so he was repaying his dept in drinks or food, which was actually rather tasty, when needed. The boy exited the tavern, careful not to spill the drink from a mug. He would have to return it after the ale itself would be finished, though.

When Danny was about to enter one of the alleyways, he heard someone calling for him.

"Danny, wait!"

Danny looked to the side and grinned. His friend Tucker decided to make an appearance. And speaking of appearance, the same aged man sure stood out from the crowd completely. Because to see a black skinned person so far on the North was ridiculous. He had turquoise eyes, black hair. He wore a long-sleeve yellow tunic, green braies with a black belt, and brown boots along with a small red felt hat.

Tucker's story was an unusual one. He was actually born on the African West coast, but at the age of eight he and his family were captured by Arabian slavers. From there they were shipped off to Al-Andalus. That's where he got separated from his parents. They were sold to some guy either in Byzantine Empire or one of Mid Eastern states. He, on the other hand, was sent to another place, he was purchased by an English tailor. The old man was after rare clothing from Asia, but decided to spend some money on the boy. Thankfully, the guy was kind enough, stern, but never abusive. He just needed the boy to help out during the work and watch over him. The old man was everything but rotting already and getting up from the bed was already a challenge for him.

The town folk wasn't too accepting of Tucker. It was understandable, he was completely alien to the environment. And so, Tucker didn't have any friends except for Danny. The youngest Fenton never could brag about his popularity, he didn't have anything to lose. Besides, he didn't have anything against the newcomer. But he gained a friend, just like Tucker did that day.

"Hey, Tuck, finally got a spare time?"

"My hands are hurting by now," the dark skinned teen moaned and showed his hands. "And I still have to deal with how many inches of cloth will be needed," he grumbled. "Joshua's punishment for yesterday."

"So in one word you are ditching."

"Yeah. But that was worth it, wasn't it?"

"That I can agree with, the expression on Baxter's face was priceless. Wish I could have a picture the moment he saw the painting on his wall," Danny whispered.

Both boys snickered in laughter. "Aren't you worried that he finds out that were us?" Tucker asked.

"I don't think so, Dash needs to have brains for that and he was the only one to see us. Besides, even Baxters won't be able to do anything as long as Masters sticks around," Danny said rather smugly, but a note of sarcasm could be heard in his tone.

"You still don't like him," Tucker stated the obvious.

"It's just...there is something unsettling about that creep. He sounds nice and he helps us when we need it, but I think it is just to impress Mom. Everyone sees that, except maybe Dad."

"Well, it is still good to have a friend who is one of the richest people in Europe, even if he IS a creep."

"No arguing here. But the point is, Vlad looks like he would stab you in the back when he gets a chance."

The conversation kept going for some time, but when they were going through the market, the boys heard a loud ringing. The town church rang when it was noon.

"Look, I've got to go, man. I don't want to get caught ditching."

Danny sighed. "Alright, Tuck. See ya in the evening."

The dark skinned boy nodded and ran off. Danny meanwhile walked in the opposite direction. He kept receiving weird expressions from the bypassers, but it was nothing out of ordinary. Fentons were famed as generally strange folks. The strange machines Jack Fenton made in his free time, which broke on the following day and were amazing only to Tucker, were one thing, but there was also another issue.

Despite being very faithful, Fenton seniors relied on the very...unorthodoxal ways of protecting themselves from hellish beings. Different amulets on the walls, methods straight from celtic times, etc. And such beliefs actually bordered, if weren't the part of paganism and heresy, but their donations to the church were rather generous, so the priests didn't comply. Still, how a simple ugly plant in a pot could save from a demon?

The family reputation affected the children as well, and not in a good way. Other kids tended to stay away from them. Jazz had found her vocation. She was learning from Mr. Lancer, who worked as a scribe to the local noble's court. The aged man had taught her how to read and write, and the girl in turn passed the knowledge to her brother. Jazz was skillful and dedicated person, she wasn't concerned about what others thought. Danny, on the other hand, felt the full pressure of the crowd's resentment. Of course, it got easier when Tucker appeared, but he remained an outcast nevertheless.

Jazz advised him to look on the things positively, and it helped him a lot. However, his mouth, which was becoming more snarky with each passing day, got him in a few troubles. Nothing serious, but nasty memories were still there. Danny wasn't planning to stop, as it had become his main way of dealing with things.

A few minutes later the teen got to his home. He saw Jack mercilessly devouring his breakfast and coughed to call the giant's attention. Jack stopped from his important task and looked up, before beaming brightly.

"Danny-boy, finally! I'm really thirsty!"

Danny silently put the mug on the table. Jack took the mug and made a large gulp. When he lowered the mug, Danny could see his confused expression.

"Is it from the basement as I asked?"

"Yeah, but I just got delayed and it warmed up a bit."

Thankfully his father was too inclined in food to pry the details. Danny would have tried to get away, but he couldn't find a valuable excuse, before Jack spoke again.

"Alright, Danno, let's get to work," Jack jumped from his seat and gestured for the teen to follow. "I asked the Master from Wales to make a decorated guard. It arrived yesterday, look."

Jack dug in his pockets and showed the item to the curious teen. The steel guard, which was shining under noon sunrays, was decorated with many engravings and patterns, which intertwined with each other in a beautiful pattern. But there were also some words.

"Look closely, lad, that's what I call a craftsmanship. I wonder what's written here, though."

Danny looked closely. "It's Latin, but I don't know what it means," he said. "You have to ask Jazz about it."

"Oh, alright, but it can wait. This is going to be the finest sword we have ever made, my boy!" Jack was babbling in excitement. "Alright, go fire up the forge and we will put everything together."

Danny nodded and got to work. Taking a metal rod, the teen started flipping the coal, meanwhile pulling the lever of bellows, stirring the fire. Jack meanwhile was making the last preparations, including the inspection of the steel pommel, which was delivered as well.

"The forge is ready, Dad," Danny called.

"Alright, son, let's start from the grip."

Jack took the blade of the future sword, which ended with a thin cylinder on one of its sides. The giant approached the furnace. "I have already made the blade and you know how we do that, Danno, I'll heat it up, when I take it out..."

"I slip the grip on it, I know," Danny rolled his eyes.

"See, you are catching on quickly!" Jack laughed, nudging the teen and almost making him fall.

The man held the grip over the fire. When it became bright yellow, Jack took it out. "Alright, do it."

Danny pushed the grip over the cylindrical part of the blade, while Jack was keeping it on one place. The heated metal bent and took a required shape, slimmer than before. Danny repeated the process several times, before his father gave a command to stop. After that Jack started to work on setting the guard firmly on the blade, while Danny sat nearby. The teen took a knife and started cutting the wooden hilt. As the small shavings fell on the floor, Danny was becoming more eager to ask the question bothering him for a long time.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" He asked, stopping his work for a moment.

"Sure thing, son," Jack said, not looking up from the blade.

"Why did you move away from London? Everything you are doing here are horseshoes and nails, for rare exceptions."

"Not at all, Danny-boy. I'm arming all guards around here, remember? Starting from helmets and ending with knifes."

"I was exaggerating," Danny sighed, swiping the knife across the piece of wood.

"I know, son," the man sighed. "I just didn't like all the noise of big cities, you see? Besides, I heard the legends about the forest nearby. Celts said that spirits of the dead live there. I wanted to prove everyone wrong by finding them, but I never had the time to check it out. Vladdie seemed interested in that idea as well, but he later became a merchant and never had time as well."

Danny stopped for a moment and looked on the distance. "So if your methods are proved useful, we can move somewhere else?" He asked.

"Why do we need to, Danny-boy?" Jack asked in honest confusion. "Everything is calm around here and we don't have a need in anything, right?"

"Yeah, right," Danny mumbled, looking at the ground. A silence settled between them again.

"Hey, how is the hilt doing?"

The teen gave the wooden hollow cylinder to his father. Jack examined it and nodded in satisfaction. He then stabbed the blade into the ground and started putting the hilt on the blade, right under the guard. It required several twitches, but it was done. After that Jack took an engraved pommel and put it over the hilt. A few hits of hammer, and everything was done. The man took the completed sword in both hands and grinned in pride.

"It's beautiful!" Jack exclaimed happily.

Before Danny could make a snarky remark, they heard multiple horse whines, the sounds of hooves hitting the ground, as well as the creaking of carriage wheels. Danny raised his eyebrow, Jack didn't tell him that they were going to have guests. He mentally begged that it wasn't who he thought it was. Jack himself meanwhile jumped from his seat like a kid who was about to get a Christmas present.

Soon he got his answer. A decorated wooden carriage with round top, accompained by nine riders, stopped out of the yard. There was a symbol on the carriage, a red image of the Dragon, standing on its back legs, with yellow background. Danny could not be a noble, but this symbol was widely known across the England. Mansons, whose ancestors could be traced back to William the Conqueror himself, when he was just a Duke of Normandy. But what could they be doing here?

One of the riders strolled forward and got on the ground. He was wearing a brand new coat of plates. It was a form of segmented torso armor consisting of overlapping metal plates riveted inside a cloth or leather garment. He also wore metal boots and gauntlets, but without a helmet, giving a good look on his face. The man had blond hair and pale blue eyes, which almost seemed gray and held a look of disdain inside. The guy obviously didn't like visiting low life places by his standards. Jack approached the man, and even though he was taller than the visitor, a deep bow from the blacksmith made them equal in height.

"Earl Manson, you have arrived early!" Jack said.

The noble rolled his eyes, "Skip the pleasantries, Fenton. I came for my order and I have a long way to Leicester, so hurry up."

"Of course, sir, Danny, bring the sword here!" Jack looked back at his son, who was still standing near the forge.

Danny nodded and carefully picked the weapon, holding the hilt in one hand, blade down. When he approached the noble, the teen handed the sword to the blond. Earl Manson examined the result, swinging it slightly and smirking. It was worth every copper he was going to pay. The sword was not only beautiful, but also lied good in his hand. He needed to test how good it was in the fight, however. Before he could say something, they all heard a sound of the carriage door opening. Everyone turned in direction of the noise.

A teen girl jumped out of the carriage. She was no older than Danny, looking only seventeen. The girl was wearing a very dark green dress with black patterns, with brown shoes on her slim legs. She had short and carefully combed raven hair, with a small and high ponytail. But Danny's look was glued to her eyes, they had the most captivating purple color he had ever seen. The girl approached the group, but Earl Manson didn't seem happy about such development.

"Samantha, I told you to remain inside the carriage," he scolded her.

Samantha crossed her hands and narrowed her eyes at him. "And I told you that my legs are sore from all the riding, father," she said.

The noble sighed and shook his head. "I don't have time for this," he muttered. "Fenton, I need a demonstration," Earl said, handing Jack a sword.

Meanwhile the girl's eyes fell on the fourth member of the conversation. She gave Danny a small smile and he noticed that, feeling wobbly on the inside. Jack beamed and took the sword in his hand. He looked around and saw a hand of the shovel, without the metal part. He took it and stabbed it in the ground. Then the man took a stance, raising the sword. When he swung it, the thick wooden stick was cut in two pieces, one of them flying on a good distance away.

"It's just a stick, but I don't have anything better, yet," Jack said.

The Earl rubbed his chin in thought. However, he caught the blacksmith's son periodically glancing at his daughter, who meanwhile curiously observed the surroundings. The noble didn't like it at all, that peasant had to learn his place.

"Let the lad try," Manson suddenly said, catching everyone off guard.

All eyes turned to Danny, who shifted nervously under multiple gazes. Jack gave the sword to his son, smiling in encouragement. When Danny took the weapon in his arm, Manson could already see the outcome. Wrongly positioned legs, all in all ineffective stance, lack of physical strength by the looks of it, all that factors summed up could lead to only two results. Either the sword was going to fly out of his hands, or nothing will happen.

When Danny swung the weapon, it was revealed to be the second. He just hit the stick, leaving nothing but a small cut, and it fell on the ground. To say that he was embarrassed as hell at the moment was the same as saying nothing. Manson was smirking inwardly. It happened just as he had predicted.

"Despite this less than impressive show," the blond commented sarcastically, taking back the sword and looking at Jack. "I'm satisfied with the work. Two pounds, as agreed."

Unnoticeably to them, Danny clenched his fists and glared at the arrogant bastard in front of him, who was meanwhile paying for the work.

"Don't worry about that," he heard a whisper. Danny looked to the side and saw the girl smiling up at him gently. She was a few inches shorter than the boy.

"My father can be nasty sometimes. I'm sure one day you will make it."

Danny just nodded mutely.

"Samantha, we are going, get back inside the carriage!" The Earl said.

"Coming," the girl said without enthusiasm.

She approached the carriage and dissappeared behind its wooden door. When the Earl Manson took the lead, the entire procession moved forward. Soon it dissappeared behind the trees as well. Danny suddenly felt a massive hand on his shoulder. Before his father could start another calming monolog, the teen pushed the hand off and turned to walk away. Jack didn't say anything, understanding that the boy needed to cool off.

And he really needed to cool off. Danny had reached the boiling point. He was so sick and tired of this. Bullying, laughing, he didn't want to go through the same torment over and over again. Danny just wanted his family to leave to the place where no one would know about their freaky attitude. If they ever cared how he felt about all of this...

When Danny sat on a tree stamp, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind. It wass a daring, maybe even ridiculous idea. He couldn't change his parents' opinion, their thick headness was legendary. But the citizens could change their mind if his parents' methods will be proved useful. For that, however, he needed to find a spirit in the forest. Desperate step, it was most probably going to fail. But either that or living an entire life under someone's boot.

So this night he was going into the forest.

 **A.N. Was it good? At least I certainly think so. As you could see, I took a 13 century England instead of thought up state. It shall give more realism and would allow to tie the story to the real history.** **And yes, Danny is going to go ghost in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter II: Consequences

**A.N. I'm terribly sorry for not fulfilling my previous promise to the full extent. Danny is going to become a halfa here, but the reaction will be in the next one. It's just for the steady story flow. And yes, I'm evil.**

The Fenton household was completely silent and void of any activity. After the last candle was extinguished, Danny started to patiently wait until he heard his father snoring in his room. Jack always was the last to fall asleep, everyone got used to this and adjusted to the snoring, which almost shook the entire house and wasn't a bother anymore. Danny threw away the thin covers and put on his usual clothes, trying to make as less sound as possible.

Then the teen slowly tiptoed out of his room, outstretching his hands and using them to orientate around the dark inners of the house. There were few windows, when winter came they could easily seal them, but it was dark nevertheless. The wooden floor creaked slightly beneath his boots, but the sounds remained unheard because of the rumbling snores. Suddenly Danny hit the pot and pushed it off the table, but thankfully he managed to catch it before it hit the ground.

Finally Danny got to the front door and slowly turned the key in its hole with characteristical clacking sound. Flinching at how loud the action was, he started to listen if someone had woken up. Everything seemed as quiet as it was before. Danny pushed open the wooden door, and the night wind poured inside the house. He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. The teen turned around and went down the path out of the front yard.

It was a clear night, just as the day before it. The white disk of the moon was shining in its full circular glory, and the light wind was blowing into the teen's face. As it was commonly known, all nasty things came out during the midnight. Danny thought that if it was true, then he most certainly would find something. Or someone.

The forest was close, but Danny had previously decided to make a little hook by making a stop at the house where Tucker lived. The night streets of Amity Park were mostly empty, except for a few drinking inns which were working all the time. You could easily avoid them, since the noise they made was like a lighthouse in the foggy evening. The guards occasionally passed nearby, with torches in their hand. Danny hid from them by simply watching out for the light. After all, it wasn't his first time sneaking around the town at night, and not even the second.

The teen reached for a brick two story house on the central street. Of course, he didn't go to the front door and knocked. Instead Danny went to the shady alleyway and kneeled to a small window, which was barely above the ground. Tucker slept in a basement, which the dark skinned teen had made more warm and comfortable.

"Psst, Tucker, it's time to go."

There wasn't a single indication of any movements inside the room. For some reason Danny recalled their old joke, that the black people couldn't be seen at night. Suddenly the teen felt someone putting a hand on his shoulder. Danny jumped in surprise and spun around on speed usual people would deem impossible. He then heard an uncontrollable laughter and saw Tucker clenching his stomach and shaking in this same laughter. Danny narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Haha, very funny. Let's go before someone notices."

Danny didn't have time for this, so he simply went in required direction. On their way through the multiple alleyways, Danny picked an unlit torch from one of the stands and the two continued their way. He doubted that Baxters were going to suffer extreme losses because someone took a torch. Besides, annoying that pompous fools was priceless. At least someone should spew into their faces at least once, even if indirectly, and that's exactly what Tucker and Danny were doing in their free time. It was more interesting than scaring the chickens and flipping over the cows, like some of their peers did.

The two walked out of the city and to the edge of the forest, and with each step Tucker seemed less and less confident. Danny put the torch on a tree stamp and took out a flint and steel, before attempting to set the torch on fire.

"Uhm, man, are you sure about this?" Tucker asked nervously.

"Yeah, completely," Danny answered without looking up. "I'm not going to back out now. If we don't find anything, nothing will be able to harm us. Besides, there isn't a single predator in the forest."

With one final hit the yellow sparks fell on the torch and ignited a piece of clothing, which was wrapped around the stick and previously dipped in the flammable oil. Danny picked the tool and looked at Tucker.

"You coming?" He asked.

Tucker sighed. "If you are going to get yourself killed, at least you won't be alone," he said dryly.

Danny beamed at his friend, before they walked inside the forest. At first it looked like a simple forest, trees, trees, and, once the open ground dissappeared behind the green giants, you guessed correctly, even more trees. The summer was at its finest, all oaks, pines and bushes were flush, generous on acorns, cones and berries, sometimes poisonous. Danny never was an expert in the stuff, and neither was Tucker, so they won't risk it. The latter never ate plants if he had a chance to eat meat or, at the very least, some bread.

When Danny saw the fat roots of an oak, the teen overstepped it. Tucker wasn't as observant, his sight was below average. He stumbled on one of the roots, and Danny tried to catch him before he fell, but didn't have enough time. Tucker fell on the ground face down, causing Danny to flinch in embarrassment. Tucker got up and started to wipe out the dirt from his clothes and face. Thankfully, it was dry and left only small dark spots on his yellow tunic.

"You alright?" Danny asked.

"Just wonderful," Tucker said sarcastically. "What the heck can you be doing here? I mean WHY do you need to find that 'spirits' in the first place? You never were into this stuff!" He ranted as they continued walking.

"I just want the people to stop thinking of my family as a bunch of freaks. Father said that he is here only because he wants to find the inhabitants of this forest, too. He never has time but he still stays here."

Tucker froze on his place. "Does...does that mean that you will move out of here?"

"I always wanted to live in London..."

Only then Danny realized the reason of Tucker's reaction. He looked back at the dark skinned teen. "Tuck, I'm just stating my thought. Don't worry, I'm sure we won't move out. Knowing Dad and Mom, they will want to stay here to get rid of the threat. But at least people will stop seeing us as they do now."

Tucker's tension evaporated quickly. He believed his friend's words, since he knew Danny's parents as well as the youngest Fenton. And if it was going to help Danny, Tucker would do that. Danny meanwhile smirked and nudged him slightly with his elbow.

"Relax, I'm not going to leave ya alone here," he said, before continuing his path.

The midnight was approaching. Danny had previously decided to go only straight, without turning to the side. It was just in case, so they won't get lost. But if something happened, he knew that he could just follow the Polar star, since they were currently going South. There wasn't a single indication of any supernatural activity, unless you consider an owl's howl or a bat's squeaks something otherwordly. Occasionally, a small animal ran from one bush to another, being so fast that it was impossible to see what animal exactly it was.

When Danny looked at the torch in his hand, his lips formed a thin line. It had burned off, covering everything in darkness. He sighed sadly.

"I guess we should head back," Tucker said.

"That won't be needed," Danny responded with wide eyes.

Tucker followed his friend's gaze and saw that on a considerable distance was a bright orange spot. It was too big to be a single torch, it could only be a camp. Danny threw away the burnt stick away and it fell on the soft grass. Tucker meanwhile went forward. Danny was baffled by that action.

"What are you doing?!" He whisper yelled. "What if there are bandits?"

"Then we have to be quiet."

Danny didn't want to be left behind, so he walked after his friend, who had suddenly gained a confidence. Two boys slowed down their pace, their walk turning into sneaking. The light was getting closer and closer, and the teens approached the camp. They hid behind two neighboring pine trees and peeked around to look. And the sight was not a pleasant one, if anything, it was terrifying.

There weren't any spirits, or even demons, however, it was probably closer to the second kind of things. Piles of bloody corpses, several tall campfires, and, of course, the organizers of this mess. They didn't hide their faces. Why would they need to, there wasn't a single soul around for miles, except two teens who were stupid enough to come there. The cultists were wearing black robes, crowding around the center of the camp. One of them stepped on a tribune under the loud whistling and cheers.

The man had a chalky-white skin. His red lips seemed to have a more vibrant color with it, and the teens hoped it wasn't because the guy was a vampire, who had just finished the breakfast. If he was, it would have been the most ugly vampire in the world. Another strange thing were his eyes, which had the same crimson color. He was bald, with an abnormally long, pointed nose. The man grinned widely, revealing his yellow teeth, and bowed theatrically.

"Thank you, my dear followers, for being present here during this eventful night. I know many of you got tired getting into such a far place, but we can wait no more. Our Lord needs sacrifices, and we are his loyal servants, we should please him, right?"

He received loud cheers and claps. Danny and Tucker meanwhile looked at each other and gulped. How lucky they were to be present there. What happened next made both of them yelp loudly in surprise. They felt someone grabbing them, putting their hands behind their backs, and pinning them to the same trees the teens used to hide behind a few moments ago. Neither Tucker or Danny were able to see their own assaultants, because their heads were held tightly on their places with huge palms, but they could see each other's. They both were brutes, they still wore the robes, but their muscles were that of the vikings. Without saying a word, they tied the teens' hands with the rough ropes and pushed them towards the camp.

"What should we do?" Tucker muttered in fear.

"Hug each other and part ways?" Danny deadpanned, hiding his own fears under sarcasm as usual.

The cultists parted so the trespassers could be brought forth. With one final push the teens were forced to their knees. The guy in charge seemed surprised. He stepped down from his tribune and walked to the captives.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He asked, clapping his hands and leaning down to Danny's face.

"If you get any closer, you will stab my eye with your nose," the teen said, earning a horrified look from his friend.

Tucker sighed internally when the man started to laugh.

"Aw, aren't you a witty one," he said, wiping a fake tear from his eye. Then he picked Danny's chin and looked into his ice blue eyes. "What's your name, lad?"

"You first."

"You can call me Freakshow."

"I doubt any mother can be that cruel to call her kid like that," Danny responded.

Freakshow gasped and put a hand over his heart. "How dare you doubt my lovely Mommy? Tell. Me. Your. Name," he gripped Danny's head tighter.

"Daniel."

The man's face was threatened to be split in two by a grin. He let go of the teen, before whistling a tune slightly, completely ignoring him.

"And what are you doing here?" Danny asked. "I don't think it's a meeting of talented shoemakers."

"Aren't you afraid, lad?" Freakshow asked in genuine surprise.

"I would have shrugged, but your buddies here are making it quite difficult."

"So they are...so they are. Answering your own question, we wish to call upon our Lord so he could show the humanity his true power."

"And by that you mean..."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the man shook his pointing finger. "Names have power, lad, don't say anyone's name, especially one so powerful. He has many names, but you are right. There is a full moon, and the midnight is coming. All preparations went fine, all sacrifices have been made. We always could use two more, though," Freakshow tapped on his chin.

Tucker visibly flinched, which got the cultist's attention. "Ah, your friend seems less brave than you are."

Freakshow approached the dark skinned teen and patted his head. "Don't worry, I have other plans," the man whispered gently.

"You know what, you have entertained me just fine, Danny-boy. You may leave, and spread the word about the Lord's arrival. But your friend here shall stay. Master needs a vessel to get here."

Danny's look grew hard as he looked down on the ground. Not on Tucker. The raven haired teen couldn't bring himself to look at his friend. It was his fault they were in that situation. The choice he was given was like choosing between two apples, where one was rotten and another was wormy. But they didn't lead to death or something unknown. Danny was torn between what was worse. But suddenly, a thought occured in his mind.

"If I go willingly, will you let him go?"

Freakshow raised an eyebrow. "Hm, how do you know that the willing vessel is better?"

"I was tasked with burning heretic books once. I read one...a bit," Danny said, ashamed of himself.

"Oh, I'm ready to bet it was one of mine. I didn't expect to ever see a willing vessel. There is a first time for everything, I guess," he mumbled. "Fine, untie the second one."

The cultists obeyed his command and untied Tucker, who kept staring at Danny in shock.

"Danny, you can't..."

"Can't what? It's either me or you, so just go."

Tucker was pushed forward. Shifting nervously, he kept looking sadly, but thankfully at his noble friend. Partially it was his fault, too, if Danny was the one to bring them into the forest, Tucker was the one who got too curious and tried to be daring. But no one looks into a gifted horse's mouth. He had to go, or that psycho could change his mind, and Danny's sacrifice would be pointless, which Tucker couldn't let to happen. It sounded more like justification of cowardice, he decided, but he knew that Danny was having none of his objections.

When Tucker dissappeared behind the trees, Danny finally looked up at Freakshow, who wiped yet another fake tear from his eye.

"Oh, such a noble action," he sniffed into his handkerchief. "Bring him to the spot."

Danny was rudely picked up and carried forward. The teen almost snorted when he saw where exactly he was carried. A pentagram drawn with blood, about five meters in diameter, how original. Danny was almost disappointed. Why he wasn't afraid? On the contrary, he was afraid, terrified, to be exact. But he was probably going to die anyway, or something worse, there was no changing that. If he stared into the pit, he would have been afraid to jump, because he could turn away.

The teen was thrown down in the center and ordered not to move. They even tied his legs this time. Danny thought that he was going to faint because of stress and the rigid smell of blood. He was observing the actions of the cult leader. Freakshow was muttering something under his nose, before taking out a small vial from his robes. The liquid inside glowed brighter than a torch with the vibrant green color. Freakshow opened the vial and the liquid poured down slowly, showing its density. When the droplets fell on the blood, nothing happened at first, and Freakshow didn't seem pleased with it. Then he looked up and understood the reason. Danny looked up, too.

The moon was hidden behind the dark clouds, which were not there a few hours ago. Freakshow tapped impatiently and started to wait. It wasn't like he could change the weather.

"So you know, lad," the man looked at Danny. "This is my first time and you might die," he said casually.

"You heard him, guys, one of you will be next!" Danny grinned at the cultists.

They started whispering among each other, and that was just what the teen wanted. He unnoticeably dug in one of his deep pockets and took a knife. It didn't have a handle, there was only a sharp piece of metal. Danny managed to take it and situate the blade in his hand, but when it came to cutting the ropes, he accidentally dropped it. He flinched in fright, praying that no one had noticed his actions. Freakshow's look meanwhile turned angry. Seemingly from nowhere, he took a black staff, which ended with a black bat and had a swirling red sphere on top. Then the man hit the ground with its wooden edge loudly.

"Silence!" He yelled. "You all knew what is our destiny. To serve our Lord and get everything he had promised. This brat is expendable, however."

Freakshow pointed his staff at Danny, who flinched again at how sudden that was. The teen shifted slightly, hiding the blade beneath him. Before anyone could say something more, the place where the man had added the strange liquid started to glow. The moon was slowly coming from behind the clouds, and the blood started to glow green where its light fell. Danny took that a sign that he should hurry, but what could he do, every eye was glued to the stage and himself. Not only that, they grouped around, there wasn't a single opening around. The panic was evident in his eyes.

Finally, the moon fully came out from behind the clouds, and the circle now glowed so bright that it was almost blinding. All torches and campfires were extinguished by the strong wind. Freakshow noticed something gleaming beneath Danny, but the grin didn't fall off his face. Instead the man approached him, carefully overstepping the glowing drawings. Freakshow picked the blade and smirked, before grabbing Danny's head again.

"Now, for the final touch."

He made a slice across the teen's cheek and Danny yelped and hissed in pain. The cut won't leave a scar, but it was painful and deep enough to cause a bloodloss. Freakshow hurried to get out of the circle. The blood slowly leaked down the teen's face and fell on the ground.

What happened next was a blur. The bright green light was everything Danny saw. The forest was filled with a yell of agony, which escaped the teen's mouth. The pain he was suffering was unbearable, it felt like every inch of his body was set on fire and slashed through at the same time. It was becoming hard to breath through the continuous screams, the air seemed to leave his lungs and never come inside. Still, the screams didn't end, and he didn't faint because of suffocation.

All his muscles began to twitch and spasm, starting a torture of their own, he was still tied up and he couldn't get rid of them. His continuous twitching didn't ease the throbbing pain. It was like he was stabbed with several knifes, spears and swords. Danny's eyes were shut tightly, but the deathly green light was still coming through his eyelids. He couldn't keep a few tears coming from the corners of his eyes. He was too exhausted to open them even once. Maybe it was for the best, if the light was so blinding even with shut eyes, what could happen if he had opened them?

For some reason, at some point the ropes on his legs and hands couldn't be felt, his limbs were now free. But what exactly changed? Only that his twitching became more chaotic, starting from his fingers and ending with his insides. Danny could barely move on his own, even if he tried to crawl his way out, he managed to move his hand forward and claw into the dirt, but the teen wasn't able to pull himself forward.

Danny didn't know how long he was like that. Seconds, minutes, hours? It didn't matter and he lost count of time in his neverending agony. And the end could not be seen, but finally the luck turned her face to him. Not being able to stay awake anymore, he fainted.


	3. Chapter III: I'm a demon, apparently

The unvoluntary sleep lasted for unknown amount of time. And when Danny woke up, he didn't get up immediately. With his eyes still closed, the teen shifted on his bed. Danny felt something tickling the edge of his nose, it was probably just a hay which came from inside of the mattress. The teen moved his hand and moved away the source of his discomfort. The hay was quite soft. Danny then shivered, it was quite cold. He moved the hand to pull the covers, but found none at first. The teen continued to shift, trying to find that damn piece of clothing. Danny felt something crumbling beneath him, something nasty and sticky.

Finally the teen opened his eyes slightly, and they snapped widely open. He jumped in surprise and yelped. He wasn't on his bed, he lied on the dirty ground. It was a wide forest opening, lush and green, surrounded by numerous trees. The place seemed peaceful, the birds' steady chirping was only interrupted by a small river, which was flowing nearby. And 'something nasty and sticky' was actually a black wet dirt.

How did he...Then Danny remembered what happened: his plan, the cult and the enormous pain. Wait, there was something about the vessel of the Devil himself. He didn't feel much different. Trying to recall the events in details, Danny rubbed the back of his neck in confusion.

Then Danny briefly looked at his palm and saw a white leather glove on it, just like on another hand. The teen shook his head, when he realized that his clothes were different than before. He examined them in details. They felt so soft, it was probably a silk. His white tunic was replaced by tight, thin, long sleeved black robe. One of its halves was atop of another, kinda like when you wrap yourself in a towel. There was a white trim on the edges of the robe. The robes were held close to his body by a white leather belt, his supposedly silk pants were black. His priced boots were replaced by another pair. The boots were made of leather, very smooth leather, dyed in white and had a two centimeter tall sole.

All in all, even if Danny thought that the clothes looked awesome, he was wary about how he had gotten them. Recalling that there was a river nearby, he had a chance to wash himself. Danny approached it slowly, closing his eyes and splashing some water on his face. The teen rubbed it and wiped away the dirt. As the muddy dense water fell back in the river, Danny opened his eyes. He blinked at the image on the water. There was a teen with a close resemblance to him in terms of face features, but the skin was more tanned. His hair were astonishingly white, making the snow look dim in comparison. The eyes were green, not the same color as the grass around him. No, they held the brightest shade, like the deathly color from yesterday.

Weird. Wait a second, that was HIS reflection. Danny screamed in horror and backed off from the river.

"What's going on?!" He whispered and covered his mouth. There was a strange echo in his voice.

Taking a shaky breath, Danny bit his lower lip and yelped in pain.

A small droplet of blood fell from his lip, but to his ever growing horror, it was green and dense, like the liquid from Freakshow's vial. When the teen's tongue touched his canines, he almost cut it. Danny looked at his reflection again and opened his mouth. There were two sharp fangs. Danny gasped and for some reason started to run his hands around his body to check if something had changed. He didn't know what he had expected, since he had already seen his reflection, horns, or maybe a black arrowed tail, but he didn't find either. Well, that was reassuring, and he didn't hear any voices in his head. Still...

Danny was panicking now. How could he come home now, and how was he going to explain that it was still him, when even his skin color had changed? There were so many questions and he didn't have a single answer. Suddenly something happened. His hand disappeared. Literally, one second it was there, and then it was gone. He looked at the palm with wide eyes, but before he could even yell again, it reappeared. Danny took another breath.

"What am I?" He asked himself, before an ice blue mist escaped his mouth.

"I believe I have an answer for your question."

Danny spun around with supernatural speed. He saw a strange person standing there. It was obviously an old man, with hunched back, long gray beard. The man had a long black staff, ending with a strange circle device. He wore long purple robes, which hid almost everything, including his chest and legs. His hood looked like one of the archers, hiding his entire face. The man was leaning on his staff for support.

"Who are you?" The teen asked warily.

"No need to fear me, child. I was the one who brought you here."

"Uhm, thanks?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you know what..."

"What happened back then? Let me explain. This ritual was supposed to summon Pariah Dark."

"Who?"

"Humans know him as the Devil. And you were supposed to be his puppet," the man pointed his staff at the boy.

Danny looked ready to faint. He became pale and breathed heavily. Before he could ask the next question, the man continued.

"I haven't seen anyone like you before this, Daniel. You actually managed to keep a grasp of your life. That's why I decided to come in. I'm not usually allowed to interfere, but not when I am supposed to. If you stayed within the portal for a bit longer, it would have been the only successful ritual ever."

"But if you stopped it, why am I like this?" Danny grasped the edge of his neat robes.

"Well, I didn't stop it immediately. The process was halfway through. Pariah has no control over you, but you, on the other hand, hold half of his enormous power, becoming half 'demon', as you would say, even though you are wrong. Of course, Dark will be furious, but don't worry, he won't find you until you will be ready."

"Ready for what?" The teen asked, slowly.

"To face him, of course. He won't just leave you alone."

"Then let him take it back, I don't need this...Demon powers."

"I'm afraid you won't survive through another ceremony."

Danny looked on the ground and laughed hysterically, putting hands over his face. He was horrified too many times to be afraid now. "That's freaking insane! If yesterday I was told that I would have demonic power, I would have called an Inquisition."

"You wouldn't. You are not like that, Daniel."

The teen snorted. "Yeah? How would you know, Old Man? I see you for the first time!"

"I know everything, child. For instance, when you were five, you went to the pigs' farmhouse..."

"Alright, alright, I believe you! Just please don't say it aloud."

The man smirked. "Anyways, you have to learn how to wield this power, Daniel. How you use it is up to you. It can shape the world around, you can even conquer it if you wish. I, meanwhile, will be watching the transpiring parade. Oh, and by the way, you can change back to your human appearance."

The man turned to leave. "Wait! Who are you and how am I supposed to do that?" Danny asked.

"I'm known by many names, but you can call me Clockwork. Time out!"

He hit the ground with his staff and vanished. Danny blinked.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He mumbled, before looking at his hands.

It was just so surreal. How could he be a half demon or whatever the Old Man meant by saying that he was wrong? Well, his hand turned invisible, what supernatural creatures could do that? Only...ghosts. Without any other version, he decided to deal with being a ghost.

"Yep. Deal with my half death," Danny's lips formed a straight horizontal line.

His amount of shock was wasted long ago, he guessed. By simply existing Danny broke the simplest laws of life - when you are alive, you ain't dead, when you are a corpse, you can't walk around. And it wasn't something you can chat about with the local father. What was he supposed to say, and if the priest believed him, what could he advice? He had a half of the Devil inside him, for heavens' sake! How the God was supposed to feel about that? One thought stopped him abruptly.

How his parents were going to react? They were faithful like hell, pun not intended. If he told them, there was no telling how they would react. Danny needed to change into human, but how could he do that...The teen sat on the grass and took a deep breath. All his actions were led by assumptions. Danny guessed that he needed to want to change, he started thinking about something lively. As expected, nothing happened. It should have been something different. Danny opened his now neon green eyes and got up. He would think up something on his way, his family must had been worried, and Tucker as well.

First, Danny needed to get a view from above, since he didn't know where he was. There was one especially tall tree and the teen decided to climb up. It wasn't his first time, and the robe was very comfortable even for such a task. Danny got on one of the highest branches and looked around. He saw nothing at first, but then Danny noticed a very thin line of smoke on a distance. Maybe he should head there. Suddenly a big crow landed on a branch, which was on his eyelevel. Then the bird croaked loudly right into his ear. Danny yelped and fell off the branch. The teen screamed and closed his eyes.

Then he noticed that the wind was not blowing into his face anymore, and his fall was taking too long. Danny opened his eyes and they widened immediately.

"I...I'm flying?!" He exclaimed.

The teen was indeed levitating several meters above the ground. For the first time since the entire ordeal, he laughed, genuinely. That was damn awesome. If only he learned how to...

"Oof."

He fell on the ground. At least this time Danny wasn't that high, so everything he wounded was his pride. It seemed that he had to walk on his feet. Danny sighed and walked in direction of the smoke, hoping that it was coming from the town. On his way, Danny started thinking up a way to change back. How was this possible, he was basically trying to come back to life. Curious, the teen put a hand over his heart. It wasn't beating, just what he had to prove. Maybe there was some way to make him fully human, but he would have to be like that.

Danny wasn't sure about how to feel about that. On one hand, he now had the power, yet untamed, but to have a half of the Devil's might...His main concern, besides the religious population around, was the previous owner of this power. Clockwork said that Pariah would search for him, and a feeling of dread rose in his stomach. But the Old Man was right, everything Danny could do was to train. What other powers did he have, the teen questioned himself. Maybe something with fire? Or appearance changing?

The last thing got him back to the point where everything began. Danny stopped and decided to try to change back immediately. But then he heard a growl. Danny looked to its source and saw a wolf looking at him with its beady eyes, as the saliva dripped from its mouth. There were no predators in the forest, how did it get there? Danny prepared to fight the animal, hoping that his newfound power would aid him. On the contrary. A ring of moonlight appeared around his waist, split in two and traveled up and down. When they disappeared, Danny saw that he was wearing his own clothes and his skin color became paler as well.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

The wolf snarled and ran at him. Danny didn't have much time to react, he only swung his hand and closed his eyes. He waited, and waited, nothing came. Danny opened his eyes and saw that the wolf was now behind him. The predator jumped at him again, but jumped through him. Danny was confused, he tried to rub the back of his neck, but found himself unable to. The teen looked at his palm and it looked a bit transparent. Danny saw a tree nearby and he moved his hand slowly through it. So, he could become intangible even while being human. His body then became solid again. Very unconventional.

The wolf looked confused. He had stopped jumping at him, but it was still growling. Danny looked at the animal.

"Alright, doggie. Get lost and we won't have any troubles," he said menacingly. The teen was strangely confident in a situation like this.

The wolf was about to jump at him again, when an arrow whistled near them and pierced the predator's head. Brutal. Danny looked to the side and he wasn't quite happy. There was a buffed man about their age. He had short blond hair and blue eyes. The man was wearing an aketon - padded, quilted jacket, dyed in white and red, along with red hose on his legs. On his feet was a pair of high leather boots. He was sitting on a brown horse.

"Dash, what a surprise," Danny said cheerfully.

Baxter was actually not the one people joked around a lot. Noble by birth, the blonde was considered an untouchable. Of course, he would prefer solving the issues with his strength, but when the issue was big enough, he always ran to his Daddy and his offenders didn't stick around for long. Baxters were influential only on their territory, being middle rank barons they didn't even anticipate in the barons' council. They hadn't been de Montfort's allies or the king's, and hereby they didn't gain or lost anything. Still, Baron Baxter was away god knows where at the moment.

Dash smirked. "My, my, who do we have here?" He asked, lowering the bow. "I didn't know you are into hunting, Fentina."

Danny sighed. "I'm not, I just got lost."

"Should have known, wouldn't have been surprised," the noble approached him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have been here for a few days, Fentonail."

Oh, so he didn't know what happened to his house.

"Thanks for that, I guess," Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

The blonde snorted. "Don't let it get into your head, peasant. For the note, I did this only because its fur looked pretty."

He turned his back to the now ghost teen and suddenly gave his horse a light stab. The animal whined and swapped its legs, throwing the mud into Danny,

"I expected nothing more," the half ghost said through the gritted teeth.

Dash laughed and got down from the horse, preparing to take the animal's pelt. Danny's eyes changed their color to green in a split second as a low growl came out of his throat. The ghost teen was walking for about half an hour. The forest was much better during the day, he liked how the light played through the trees' leaves. When Danny exited the forest, he saw the familiar surroundings. He could even see his house on a distance. But, he was wary about coming there, Danny decided to go to Tucker first. Hopefully the poor fellow managed to get home.

Danny felt weird while coming through the streets. Just yesterday he was a usual human, just like all of them, now he was something different, and that was unsettling. Now, every person around could do something nasty once they found out what had happened to him. The teen soon got to the house and entered it. The front entrance was a shopping place, and it wasn't Danny's destination. Tucker was not working at the stand at this time. He was usually at another kind of work.

"No, no, I told you, count seven times and then cut, you've lost an inch of precious cloth."

Danny peaked slightly in the room. Tucker was sitting near the working table, over the future cloth. Near him stood an old man, with an amount of wrinkles enough to carry milk jugs. He had gray eyes, which were unnaturally sharp for a man of his age, was bald, except for a few chunks of hair around his head. The man had a short beard, which was always clean, unlike his skin, which had several dark spots all around it. He wore rather rich looking red robes and sandals.

The man examined the extra piece. "I'll find where to use it, but you seem too distracted, Tucker. You weren't walkin' around the entire night, are you?"

"N-no, sir."

"You better not to lie to me, little raskal."

It wasn't an insult, that's how he called every lad. "You know that your punishment will be more severe if you lie to me. I have to go now, clean up the house by the time I return in the evening. And don't try to fix anything, you'll only make it worse."

Joshua went out of the room through another entrance, and Danny heard the door closing. Tucker sighed and leaned back in a chair with a crestfallen expression. Danny leaned against the wall and smirked.

"I thought you were good in math," he commented.

Tucker spun around. His eyes were ready to fall out of their orbits as the dark skinned teen jumped from his seat like if there was a pointed dagger beneath him.

"Danny!" He exclaimed and hugged his friend. "Oh God, I thought you are a goner!"

The raven haired teen chuckled slightly. "Well I'm still here. Sort of," he mumbled in the end.

"What do you..." Tucker suddenly pulled away. "Wait a moment," he made a few cautious steps back. "How do I know it's not Devil who pretends to be my friend?"

Danny looked around. "Is anyone in here besides us?"

"Uhm, no..."

The ghost teen went to the windows and closed the curtains, he walked to the doors and turned the keys in them. Tucker was growing tense, hoping that his assumptions were wrong. Danny started to listen for any activity.

"Alright, Tuck, I'm going to tell you what happened there. But first, you have to promise me that no word will leave this room."

"I...promise..." Tucker said uncertainly.

Danny sighed. "Well...I'm now half dead."

Tucker was silent, but then he burst out. "You are WHAT?!"

"Yeesh, quiet, Tucker. Let me show you something. If it works."

Danny closed his eyes and, once he concentrated, felt something extremely cold inside his chest. He suddenly got an idea that the cold was somehow related to his supernatural half. Danny tried to somehow grasp it, and the familiar white rings appeared. Tucker yelped and jumped aside, watching in shock how Danny's appearance changed.

"Huh, it was easier than I thought," now stark haired teen said with an echo in his voice.

"Wh-what happened to you?"

"That ritual didn't work fully and I kind of stole some of the Devil's power," Danny became invisible and then reappeared, much to his friend's horror, shock and awe. It was by accident, but it was an interesting show off.

"That's...strange..." Tucker managed to mutter.

"Seriously, is that all you can say? I'm a freaking demon, Tucker!"

"You do remember that I'm not a Christian?"

"Ah, yeah. Something about your African beliefs. And?"

"Well, we usually worship spirits, and you fit under the definition so far."

"You are not going to worship me, I hope?"

"Nope."

"Still, I have Devil's power inside, and he is really somewhere out there."

"Don't worry man, I'm not going to tell anyone. You know what, do you remember your plan in the forest?"

"Yes, we wanted to find a spirit..." Danny's eyes widened in realization.

"And one stands in front of me," Tucker smirked.

"You are a genius, Tuck."

"I know, man."


	4. Chapter IV: The Hunter

The Ghost Zone served its purpose of being a parallel world to the full extent. And to the unknowing people it was too unusual, maybe even terrific. What else could be said about the world which didn't have a sun whatsoever? More than that, it lacked the horizon line, because there wasn't any solid ground. Well, there was, but only in the form of chunks of land hanging in the air. Some were inhabited rocks, some were lush green valleys, they could be a raging infernal place or ice desert. But, unless you could fly like every denizen of that world, there was no way you could get from one chunk to another.

One island in particular was filled with jungles. And like the same kind of forests in Human World, they housed a lot of peculiar creatures, with interesting horns or pelts - true treasures for a person who knew their value. And the man getting through the wide leaves of tropical plants was just that kind of person.

He was wearing an armor, made from a thick metal. However, it didn't look like an armor, more like a shiny clothing on a buffed body, furthermore, combined plates were placed together, like if his very skin was made of steel. Also, there was a black sleeveless tunic on his chest. A belt with a letter 'S' in its center was holding his pants. Another belt was connected to the first one, while being wrapped around his shoulder. His 'armor's' head looked a bit like a skull, with two pupiless green eyes in eyesockets. His hair were green, and they looked like someone had set a campfire on the back of his head.

The man observed the wild animal from his spot in the bushes. The creature looked a bit like a tiger, but its fur was a constant swirl of black and green, which was precisely why the hunter wanted to get it. He couldn't just charge a blast, he needed something less noticeable. For example, a crossbow. It was loud when used, but before that it won't show his position. A small device came from beneath the metal plating. One shot should be enough, but he didn't want to damage the pelt. Since he already had the same animal's head, the man decided not to be exactly caring. He aimed and fired.

With a characteristic clanking sound the crossbow bolt flew into the creature, pierced its eye, killing it efficiently. The man smirked and came out of the bushes. He took out a hunting knife and prepared to get his trophy. The man kneeled, but before he could do anything, he heard a horse whine behind. The man raised his eyebrow and looked behind. He flinched slightly at the sight.

There was a knight in a heavy pitch black armor. He was riding a black steed, with a flaming green mane, which wore an armor made of dark metal and had blood red eyes. The knight's face was hidden under the helmet, but not because it was closed. His face was covered in shadows, with only two glowing green dots being seen through. The knight also wore something akin to a purple flaming cape and held a green wicked looking sword.

"Skulker the Hunter," he said in a loud booming voice.

"Fright Knight," Skulker said with a note of fear in his voice. "Wh-why are you here?"

"The King demands that you do an errand for him. According to your speciality, of course."

"Uhm...what?"

Fright Knight jumped off his infernal steed and approached the hunter.

"I'm not allowed to tell too much. Your task is simple, you get a permission to enter the Human World, in order to hunt down the person who dared to insult His Majesty."

"I hunt down animals, I'm not a 'Bounty' hunter."

"Are you defying the King's will?"

Skulker visibly flinched at that words. "No, I am not. Just warning that this is not my speciality. It's an interesting experience, however."

"You will be paid accordingly if you succeed. The main condition is to capture him alive, or in whatever condition he is now. Wounds are of no concern."

"What do you mean?" Fright didn't seem eager to answer. "If I know more it increases the chances of capture."

"We do not know, because the case is unprecedented. Whoever that petty bastard is, he should be...half human and half ghost, or so His Majesty thinks."

"How is this even possible?" Skulker muttered.

"I'm not telling. Do you take this assignment or not?"

Skulker hummed, rubbing his metal chin. "Fine, I agree. Just let me take my things."

"And one more condition. No one must know about that."

After dealing with Tucker, Danny went home. That's where all the fun should have begun. It took a lot of willpower to come inside their yard. Jack was nowhere to be seen, which was very unusual and didn't add Danny any confidence. When Danny entered the house, Maddie was there. She heard Danny entering and looked at her soon.

"Young man, how many times I have to tell you not to come out so early in the morning?" Maddie scolded him with the slightly narrowed eyes.

Wincing, Danny actually thanked god that his mother actually came up with an excuse for him. He rubbed the back of his neck in the faked embarrassment.

"Sorry, Mom. Where is everyone?"

"I actually planned to send you to buy some food for lunch, but since you were so busy with other things, I had to send Jack. Hopefully he won't buy too much, when everything can be bought cheaper later. And Jazz is at work with Mr. Lancer."

Danny nodded slowly, before feeling his stomach tie in a knot. "Uhm, is there anything left from breakfast?"

Maddie just silently put a bowl with oatmeal in front of him. Danny was growing sick of eating the stuff each damn day. But he was not a King, who could have five meals in one go, he had to deal with that. Taking a spoon in his palm, Danny started eating. Suddenly his arm became invisible and intangible, and the spoon fell in the bowl. Looking at his hand, the teen yelped in fear and moved it behind his back. Maddie looked back to check what was wrong, and Danny only smiled and laughed nervously. She only shook her head and continued wiping the floor. Danny's hand became normal again, so he just continued eating.

From time to time Danny was glancing at his mother, wondering about the main question. Should he tell her about his...issue? It's not like he could say: "Hey, Mom, I kind of died this night". And there was no telling about how she would react, especially at the moment, when she was already slightly angry at him. Maybe he should tell his father? But even if Jack was more cheerful and goofy, he was even more superstitious than Maddie. It was not the way apparently.

His mother snapped Danny out of his thoughts. "Danny, after you finish, go water the plants, please. It has been too dry lately."

The teen nodded, before taking a few last spoonfuls of oatmeal and getting up. He exited the house and went to the well, taking the wooden bucket in the process. He walked down the path and approached the stone water source. But Danny didn't have time to tie the bucket to the rope, because something, or someone stopped him.

"Fenton!"

Danny flinched in surprise and fear. He looked to the side and his theory about who that was was confirmed.

"Hey again, Dash," Danny said cheerfully.

"Don't play idiot with me, Fentina, I know what happened yesterday."

Danny's tongue just itched to say 'One idiot here is enough', but thankfully he managed to hold back.

"What happened yesterday?" he asked innocently.

"I know you were the one to dirty the walls of my home."

"Yeah, and how do you prove it?" Danny raised his eyebrow.

"My servant recalled that the 'mysterious' vandal got the same scratch from Bobby," Dash pointed at the scratch on Danny's knee.

Of all times he could be smart it was now.

"Wait...your dog's name is Bobby?" Danny asked, choking his laughter.

Dash looked at him with non impressed expression.

"You are going to pay for it, Fentina," Dash cracked his knuckles.

Danny sighed, knowing full well what was coming. "And what are you going to do now?"

Dash smirked. "Have a nice day getting out."

He then pushed Danny backwards. And behind was only the well. With a yelp Danny fell a few meters down in the underground, right into the water. He got to the surface of the water, and glared at the laughing noble. Dash walked off. The raven haired teen managed to remain on the surface. Ha! And people said learning to swim was pointless. Still, he was about ten meters underground, and the walls of the well were a simple dirt, it was sinking under his feet and hands.

Then Danny noticed that he wasn't cold. Even if there was a summer above, wet air and lack of sunlight should have made the water cold. Yet, the teen wasn't freezing. It wasn't really reassuring, but at least it was more comforting. Then Danny remembered that his new powers could help him. He could fly, after all. The teen closed his eyes and changed into the...ghost form. Well, he could change them at will, alright. Then Danny attemped to fly up, and, just like before, it didn't work at first.

The teen then put his entire concentration into his attempt to take off. Slowly, the water reached his belt, then his knees, and finally he was above the liquid surface. Danny, however, didn't relax, because he already knew that he shouldn't allow himself to be distracted or he would fall. Finally the teen reached for the edge of the well and grabbed it, before pulling himself out. Danny dropped on the grass and automatically changed back to the human form. He grinned and raised his hands.

"I did it!" He exclaimed in excitement. "And now I'll have to explain to Mom why I'm wet like a dog," he then deadpanned.

Then an idea occured in Danny's mind. He got up and imagined becoming intangible. All water fell off him with a splash, and he was completely dry.

"I love this powers more and more."

Then a thought striked him. Should he feel wrong about using the demonic, ghost, whatever powers? They come from Hell, and it could be a mere seduction, a part of the Devil's cunning sheme. But for what? Danny snorted. Like he would ever know and like he could change anything about it. Shaking his head to ward away any thoughts for the matter, Danny recalled Tucker's idea. Yes, they decided that the half ghost should make an appearance in order to prove that his parents ways were effective. He could just pretend that they worked for all he cared. The teen just had to make everything believable, but how if he couldn't even properly use them?

Danny remembered about given task, so he got some water and walked back to his home. He was not aware, however, that someone was watching him.

Skulker removed the binoculars from his eyes and hummed.

"So this is a human who can use ghost powers..." he mumbled, quite impressed. He had never seen something like that before, and he sure had seen a lot. "It will be an interesting prey."

Danny returned to his home and slowly poured bits of water in different places. Maddie had a small garden to waste her time when she wasn't busy with house chores. It wasn't very big, so it usually took a few seconds to water them. Then the teen remembered that there was also one plant in a pot on his parents room's windowsill. On his way there from the outside, some rigid smell was becoming stronger. Danny wondered what that was and he soon got the answer.

Strangely, the plant the name of which he couldn't remember, was emmiting visible red vapor. It looked like red rosebud, with a purple-trimmed black stem and leaves. Danny blinked, where did the vapor come from? His mind was busy with another thing, however. The smell was becoming unbearable, and it wasn't just nasty, it felt painful to breath that smell in. Danny made a step back and got a chance to think the situation through.

This plant wasn't emmiting any vapor before, neither it smelled so agonizingly.

"What's going on?"

Danny jumped slightly and looked to the side. Jack was standing at the entrance with a raised eyebrow and one basket in each hand. The teen looked at his father in bewilderment. Couldn't he see that the plant was SMOKING? When Danny voiced his thoughts to Jack, the man only seemed more confused.

"There isn't any vapor, Danny," he commented. "Better use this water to cool your head."

With that Jack walked off, leaving disgruntled teen alone. That was...strange. The vapor was still there, how could...Quite possibly, only Danny was able to see it. And there was only one trait which made him different from his parent. Danny wasn't a full human anymore. NOW he remembered the name of the plant and its purpose. Blood Blossom, the flower which could 'repel everything supernatural' as the shady trader said. Who would have thought that the man was right all along?

Sighing, Danny considered throwing the plant away, but something told him that it was a bad idea. The teen just planned to go away, but then he remembered that he also had to help Jack at the forge. And since the monthly fair was at this same day (the stars had gone together, yes) he had a lot of work to do, a lot of metal stuff to make in order to sell it.

That's exactly what happened. And Danny felt a bigger discomfort than usual. For some reason, he felt extremely hot. Yes, it always was hot, but now it felt even worse. What does this have to do with him being half ghost? But there was an advantage, and even Jack noticed it.

"Wow, when did you get so strong, Danny-boy?"

The teen blinked and looked on the nail he was supposed to make. The metal bent after the first hit, and hardly the strongest one.

"Eh, I'm trying," Danny smiled.

Jack beamed too and returned to his work. The half ghost got curious, and looked at the anvil he was working on. While his father wasn't looking, Danny tried to lift it. Shockingly, it was as light as feather, like if he didn't hold anything at all! The raven haired teen grinned, before putting it on place and continuing his work. He couldn't wait to tell Tucker about his newest findings. In his unstoppable work Danny didn't notice how the sun had started to set.

It was the time to go, and Danny was pushing the wooden cart filled with iron stuff forward. It was a strange tradition to make fairs during the night, but it created a certain atmosphere of celebration, and this atmosphere would make the potential buyer more wasteful. Just add to that a slightly lowered price. Whoever came up with the idea should had been given a reward. It wasn't hard to set up the stand, Jack had previously purchased the place for a night. The process was trained to perfection by then, so Danny set up everything in no time, while Jack joined Maddie on her shopping trip. He was left at stand, with a bored expression on his face.

Danny sold a few nice locks and hinges, someone purchased less costly things, like nails and hammers.

"And the change will be...two pennies, here you go, sir," Danny counted two small coins and gave them to the buyer, who nodded and walked off.

"Having fun, little brother?"

The raven haired teen looked to the side and saw Jazz standing nearby.

"Yeah, standing through the entire night is so entertaining," Danny said with a dreamy smile, putting a hand under his chin.

Jazz rolled her eyes. Her brother's amount of sarcasm was unlimited. "Glad to see you upbeat as ever," she said. "Have you noticed how Dash stares at you? He looks murderous."

Danny didn't even glance at the blonde. "I kind of threw cow pancakes at the walls of his home," he said with the same smile.

"You WHAT?!" Jazz exclaimed, earning some weirded looks.

"Hey, he started it!" Danny argued.

"It doesn't mean that you can insult the most influential brat around," the young woman whispered angrily.

"He already gave me a lecture, Jazz," the raven haired teen responded in a deadpan tone. "I think now he is just angry that I got out of that well."

The redhead groaned and rubbed her temples. "You are unbelievable," she mumbled. "Danny..."

"I know. And I have already asked you not to lecture me again."

"You don't seem to learn anything," Jazz crossed her hands angrily.

"Yep."

"Ugh!" Jazz exclaimed in exasperation, before walking off.

Danny smirked. That way of getting rid of his overbearing sister worked every time. The teen suddenly felt a chill run through his body and a blue wisp coming out of his mouth. Danny's eyes widened. Was it that strange old man again? He looked around, but saw no one. It was probably just too cold. Then Danny saw a familiar face and grinned.

"Hey, Tuck, what's up?"

Tucker looked at him and shrugged. "You know, the usual. I was just sent to fetch a few things. Are there any news about your...condition?" He whispered.

"Apparently, I can lift an anvil with no effort and can be killed with a flower in my parents' room."

"Cool...the anvil, I mean," the dark skinned teen added quickly, understanding what he had just said.

Danny just laughed. "That's alright, man. Do you need any help in carrying the stuff?"

"Oh, so you want to use your super strength now?" Tucker said sarcastically. "Who am I to stop you? I need some company."

The shadowy alleyway they were going through was narrow, and it was rather cold there, even if Danny didn't feel any discomfort. It was a perfect place for keeping goods which needed cool temperatures or safekeeping. Speaking of, Danny wasn't worried about his stand, the guards were on every cormer. But suddenly the two heard a cackle behind.

"Well, well," Dash said, leaning against the wall. "We are now here, all alone, in an empty dark alleyway."

"What do you want?" Danny asked in exasperation. "You got what you wanted this morning."

"Who said it was everything I wanted?"

Suddenly he grabbed Danny's tunic and pinned the smaller teen to the wall.

"Hey, let him go!" Tucker said. "Or I'll call the guards!"

Both Dash and Danny looked at him with deadpan expression. "Seriously? Call the men whose boss is my father?" Dash asked. It was stupid even for him.

Tucker was at loss what to do.

"Common, Goldylocks, just give me your best punch and get over with it," Danny said.

The noble's look could burn a hole in his captive. Dash raised his hand to throw a punch, but then something happened. A crossbow bolt flew a few millimeters away from his head, even cutting some of his blond hair, before hitting the wooden wall behind. The noble yelped and dropped Danny, before looking back.

"Get lost, brat, or the next bolt will hit the target," a growling voice sounded from darkness. Everything the teens could see was a huge bulky silhouette in shadows.

Dash gulped and ran off. Danny got up and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Eh, thanks for the save, I guess."

"Don't thank me, whelp. I just want the spoils for myself."

"What do you..."

A whirring sound was heard and a green bright glow was seen, revealing who the person was. Skulker fired the cannon, Danny and Tucker jumped to the different sides. A green blast missed them and hit the wall, leaving a scorch mark and a small green fire. The half ghost jumped on his feet, while Tucker moaned, probably because he fell on the stone path. Danny realized that it wasn't a human, so he had to change his form. He managed to do that in a split second this time.

"Impressive, but a little light show is not going to scare me."

Skulker was about to charge another shot, but Tucker picked a particularly big stone and hit the metal man. It didn't help a lot, but Skulker glanced at him, and that was enough for Danny to make a drastical move. He lunged forward and pushed his opponent. Skulker wasn't able to do anything and they both flew forward, breaking the wall in the process. They landed inside a crowdy tavern, scaring the hell out of the visitors.

Danny moaned slightly. "Alright, it wasn't the best idea."

He suddenly felt a strong arm grabbing his neck and lifting him. Skulker glared at the teen with his pupiless eyes. "Believe me, the fun only begins."

The hunter threw Danny at the nearest piece of furniture. Sometimes he was toying with his prey. The teen yelped in pain on the broken table before noticing that Skulker was charging another shot. Danny tried going intangible, and he did so, but didn't have time to cheer, because the blast hit him nevertheless. The ghost teen didn't notice how he was on the square already. He shook his head, but managed to stand, as every inch of his body started to ache. Of course the body would ache, he was thrown around like a ragdoll. Danny heard Skulker's laughter as the hunter walked forward. The populace scattered around, but they were peaking from their hiding spots nevertheless.

"Honestly, I was expecting something more entertaining, whelp," Skulker said, fiddling with his armor.

"Who the heck...are you?" Danny panted.

"I am Skulker - the greatest hunter of the Infinite Realms! And I don't know what our lord found in you."

The half ghost flinched. It could mean only one thing. "You mean the Devil?"

The crowd gasped as Skulker rolled his eyes. Foolish superstitious humans. "Yes, to put bluntly, it's him. And he wants you brought alive. I honestly don't understand why, care to elaborate?"

"I...I don't know," Danny lied.

Skulker didn't seem convinced. The hunter approached the teen and grabbed his arm harshly. Danny hissed in pain, showing his white fangs. Suddenly he got a very stupid idea. He punched the metal man in his face with his hand. Skulker, both from surprise and Danny's newfound strength, staggered backwards, letting go of the teen. Half ghost meanwhile clutched his hand in pain. Hitting metal with full force never was fun. In the process the glove on Danny's right hand was taken off. Skulker shook his head and looked at the teen, before his eyes widened in shock.

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed.

Danny blinked and looked where Skulker was looking and his own neon eyes widened, too. There was a green image of the star on the inner side of his palm. The star looked like it was scratched on his skin, roughly and uncaringly.

"So that's what all of this is about," Skulker mumbled. "Are you his puny bastard or something?"

Danny didn't get what the hunter meant, until it came upon him. He realized that after the populace gasped again.

"Wh-what?! I'm not his kid!" The half ghost exclaimed.

"Whelp, only members of his family can have this symbol, you ain't gonna fool me."

The teen got an idea why he had the symbol. Since he had stolen Pariah's power, why not the star? Before Danny could say anything in his defense, something happened. They got surrounded by guards, who were shaking like leafs, but were still armed. The local priest was pushed forward, shaking as well. He raised the cross in front of him.

"Begone, demons!" He screamed.

With a deadpan expression, Skulker fired at one of the guards, not killing, simply pushing him backwards, showing that he wasn't bothered by the cross at all.

"I'm not interested in you, mortals. I need the whelp."

Danny noticed the dropped spear nearby. It was his chance. Trying to be subtle, he slowly walked to the side, pretending to circle around the hunter. Besides, he couldn't walk fast, his limbs were going numb. Then the teen saw a small space, a junction which used to be covered by the black shirt, now with a few torn holes. Perfect place, you don't need to be the master of fighting to know that the junctions were always the weakest spots, and Danny was also the blacksmith's apprentice. He knew the material.

"What are you doing, whelp?" Skulker asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Are you out of insults, metal head?" Danny teased, trying to get his opponent to attack. "I have a name, you know."

"Really, and what is it?" Skulker asked, nonchalantly preparing the gun to charge.

Danny cursed mentally. Stupid talkative mouth, he needed to think up something and quick. Ghoul, Poltergeist, Casper...

"Phantom."

Skulker snorted. "Seriously? Pariah couldn't give such a ridiculous name."

"I'm not his kid!" Phantom exclaimed.

"Whatever," Skulker rolled his eyes and fired.

Danny jumped to the side, his hurting legs managed to get him a few inches to the side, his boots protected his feet from getting a burn. Still, he fell on small gravel, getting several painful scratches. Skulker growled in annoyance and stomped forward, making a loud clanking sound. When he was just above the teen, the hunter reached for him, but Danny suddenly spun around and, using his strength, which was basically everything he could do at the moment, picked the spear and made a stab, right into the junction.

The iron spear was too weak compared to the metal of the armor. But it stuck inside the suit. Skulker punched Danny with his boot, making the teen scream in pain. Making the last effort, Danny pushed the spear even further. Complicated mechanism inside the armor started to fuzz, he had definitely broken something, hopefully something important. Skulker stumbled backwards in shock, trying to take the weapon out of his body, but it only made everything worse. Then it occurred to him that he could just phase it off. He did exactly that, wondering why he didn't do that sooner. Now Skulker was pissed.

"You will pay for that!"

But as he went forward, it looked like if it was harder for him to do so. Skulker growled, before attempting to fire the crossbow. Danny managed to roll to the side, but it was everything he could do at the moment, even if he didn't show it. If the hunter fired again, there was nothing stopping him. Skulker charged the blast, but suddenly his handgun blew up in his face. The arm became nothing but a scorched piece of metal, but the hunter didn't show any sign of pain.

Skulker would have tried to continue, but then he noticed that the guards became more brave and were slowly approaching.

"I seem to have underestimated you, whelp," the hunter commented. "Next time I won't repeat the same mistake."

With that the man dissappeared from view, but everyone heard a loud whirring noise. Danny took a shaky breath, not believing his luck. He coughed and a few droplets of the green substance fell on gravel.

"Uhm, thanks?" He said weakly in his echoing voice.

"Grab the kid. And be careful," the captain ordered.

Danny's eyes widened in horror, before he clenched them shut and turned invisible.

Tucker was observing the entire ordeal, at loss what to do, and, who was he kidding, he was a damn coward. Twice already it got his friend into trouble. He was pinned to his place, not sure about the following course of action. Suddenly, ten minutes later he heard a cough behind, followed by the flashing sound and light. Tucker spun around and saw Danny, in human form, leaning against the wall.

"Hey, Tuck," he smiled, coughing his blood. "Can you help me get home, I'm kinda not able to at the moment."

"O-oh God, of course!"

Tucker wrapped his right hand around his friend and they slowly walked through the empty alleyways. Neither said a word, until Tucker managed to say something.

"I'm so sorry man, I...I was too afraid to do something..."

"Don't worry, Tuck," Danny coughed, slowly moving his legs. "I understand. I was afraid too."

"But if I did something, you wouldn't have been so hurt."

"I will be fine. I'm already half dead," the raven haired teen chuckled weakly. "So, everyone now thinks I'm the Satan's kid. It gets better with each following day."

"And what's going to happen now?"

"I don't know, man," Danny sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know."


	5. Chapter V: An acquaintance with the ego

Two teens were worried that the wounds were more severe than they thought. Danny looked horrible to say the least. Multiple bruises amd cuts on his skin, not to mention the ruined robe. But it wasn't what scared the ghost teen the most. He was worried that when his family came home, they would find him in such condition, before putting two and two together. If not his father, than the others. But there was a little the teens could do, just bandage the most nasty scratches.

After doing so, Tucker had to leave. It was getting late and Joshua would kill him if he disappeared all of a sudden. Tucker protested, but Danny managed to convince him that he should be fine. When the dark skinned teen left, the half ghost painfully turned to the side, thinking about what just happened and what was he going to do. To sum up, the situation was really bad. If every bypassing ghost could beat him so badly, what could Pariah do? He needed to become stronger, and as quickly as possible. But first things first, he had to heal.

He didn't know how long he was lying there, Danny was in a half asleep condition. He heard some bickering behind the door of his room, footsteps, and finally everything went silent again. Thank Goodness they didn't want to come inside their son's room and take a look at him. Most probably they were too inclined in their thoughts about the recent event. The neverending chat from behind the door was a proof.

Danny woke up early that day. Well, early for him. He tried to drift back to sleep, but found himself unable to. At first he didn't recall the past events, but the stabbing pain in his torso rudely reminded him everything. The teen seriously considered staying in bed through the entire day, pretending to be ill. But then his overprotective mother and sister wouldn't have left him alone. His wounds wouldn't have gone unnoticed. He had to get up.

Slowly, the teen got into sitting position. It was less painful than he thought it would be. Of course, the pain in the torso was still there, but yesterday it pained him to even breath. Now it was gone. Curious, Danny lifted his torn tunic. His eyes became wide as saucers. Just eight hours ago he looked like he was about to die, now the former bruises and cuts looked like an angry cat scratched him in some places. Only one of the cuts still looked like an injury, that's what caused the pain in the first place. So...he had a quick healing.

Danny couldn't believe his luck, wait before Tucker learns about this. They didn't fear the injuries as much as diseases which always followed. Grinning, the teen got on his feet. He put on the spare tunic, which looked exactly the same as the other one. Trying to ignore the cut, Danny went out of his room, deep in his thoughts. Skulker could return, and he won't buy the same trick twice.

"Can you believe it, Mads? Demons, here!" Jack rambled.

Danny stopped for a moment behind the corner, deciding to eavesdrop.

"Honey, you are saying this for the tenth time," Maddie responded.

"Yes, I am, and I will say it again! I was right all along!" The man said in excitement.

"You are strangely excited for it. Jack, there is a Devil's spawn roaming around our town. Aren't you at least a bit worried?"

Danny cursed mentally. He had forgotten about that little detail. But he wasn't going to do anything bad, right? The teen never wanted to harm people...save Dash. Strange pacifism for someone who made weapons, but it was truth. Taking a deep breath, Danny made a step into the room. Both adults looked at him.

"Oh, Danny-boy, we have completely forgotten you are here."

"Shall I feel offended?" Danny said sarcastically.

"Oh, of course not!" Jack said, as usual not getting the sarcasm. The raven haired teen sat at the table. "It's just we are still recalling the yesterday events."

"And...what are you guys planning to do now?" The half ghost asked, poking the food in front of him.

"We must protect ourselves! Plant more blood blossoms, maybe. And since the Devil's kid...what was his name again?"

"Phantom," Maddie added. "What a ridiculous name."

Now Danny really felt offended.

"Yeah, anyways, this kid is dangerous. All of his beating could be a ruse to lower our guard. Poor Father Eshton, he is hysterical that the cross didn't help."

The teen just munched his meal, snorting on the inside. Danny never liked that guy much, he sure meant well, but his constant scolds and lessons to those who didn't ask for them were annoying. In his thoughts Danny didn't notice his parents calling for him.

"Danny!"

He jumped in surprise and looked at his mother. Maddie looked at him in concern.

"You seem to be worried about something. Is everything alright, sweetie?"

"Uhm, yes, I'm fine."

"You weren't there when everything happened."

"I...got hit by debris, it hurt, so I went home," Danny lifted the end of his tunic. "See?"

Technically, he wasn't lying, being thrown through the wall implied that he was hit by its pieces.

"Oh, you poor thing, how do you feel?" Maddie asked worriedly.

"I told you, I'm alright. The cut is just a bit annoying, me and Tucker stopped the bloodloss."

"It will sure leave a scar," Jack noted. "Girls like boys with scars," he said in encouragement.

"So I have to walk around shirtless, what a joy," Danny grumbled, before getting up and out of the house.

'Youngsters', both adults thought without any enthusiasm.

Danny hurried to Tucker's home. A few minutes later he ran into the small room in the basement. Tucker jumped in surprise, throwing his cover away. The dark skinned teen panted in surprise, trying to regain from shock. Danny snorted and sat on a chair. The room was bigger than his, and there was even a tiny window under the ceiling. It was the reason why Tucker hated rainy days, but that's not the point.

"Man, how about knocking?!" He exclaimed.

"I just have something to tell you."

"What are you...Wait, how did you get here? You could barely walk!"

Danny smirked, before lifting the tunic. The expression on Tucker's face was priceless. "H-how?!"

"Apparently, I can also heal quickly by myself. Amazing, huh?"

"Is there something you can't do?" The human asked.

"Well, I guess we will find out. I'll be in the forest, I have a day off, so you can find me there."

Tucker nodded as Danny hurried out of the room. The half ghost went out of the town and into the forest. Of course, Danny had previously checked that no one could see him. He found an opening and looked around. His now enchanced hearing didn't catch anything big, only the sounds of rabbits or other small animals running around. Taking a breath, Danny changed into a ghost form with a characteristic white ring. Phantom took a look at himself.

"Alright, these clothes can repair themselves," he mumbled at seeing that the robes he had didn't have a scratch on them.

"Where shall I begin..."

Danny really wanted to learn to fly. It really would have been easier if he had a trainer. He slowly ascended in the air and steadied himself. Alright, first step was made. With a determined face he tried to find the most comfortable position for moving in the air. He couldn't walk, obviously. Danny leaned forward and pushed himself. It was something weird. The ghosts apparently could do that by instinct, and he was no exception.

"Danny, where are you?"

Grinning evilly, the ghost teen descended to the ground, becoming invisible in the process. Tucker was looking around, his face was clearly showing his annoyance. The human must have been doing this for a while. Well, Danny wasnt going to lift his mood either. He flew above Tucker, before tapping on his shoulder.

Tuckers head snapped back, and the teen jumped and let out a frightful and very manly scream. He just saw Dannys head looking at him upside down. The half ghost burst laughing, holding his stomach and accidentally flipping backwards in the air. Tucker glared at his joker for a friend.

"Ha, ha. You seem to enjoy being half dead, huh?"

Danny abruptly stopped laughing and landed on the ground with a quiet thud. The half ghost narrowed his glowing green eyes and Tucker involuntary shivered. Damn, that look was scary.

"While I love being able to fly, the price is still too big for my liking," Danny said, crossing his hands.

"Oh...sorry, man."

"Relax, Im not offended," Phantom shrugged. "So, what do you think?"

"Well, you are apparently a fast learner," Tucker commented.

"Its more like an instict, actually. Do you think that I can learn other things like that?"

"How should I know?" the dark skinned tailor asked back and sat on the nearest tree stamp. "Ask that Clockwork guy, he should know?"

"I dont even know what the heck he is. And how I am supposed to contact him. I guess I will need to learn to do everything myself. If Skulker comes back, its not going to be pretty."

"I doubt you will beat this walking piece of metal by jumping on him."

"You think I dont know that? Danny deadpanned. Maybe I can learn something. Probably hellfire, or something else."

Tucker shook his head slightly. His friend again sounded too excited about the powers he got from the Devil. But thats why he was there, to snap Danny back to his senses if needed. So far there were no changes, and hopefully there wouldnt be any. Suddenly Tucker remembered something and perked up, looking at Phantom.

"Have you heard the talks in the town?"

"Uhm, no. I was kind of occupied. What is it?"

"Remember how Skulkers hand blew up? People say that the guards brought the surviving parts to Baron Baxter. He is coming here today, and they are going to examine them. They should have invited your parents," Tucker added in the end, making them both laugh at the ridicilousness of such assumption.

"I wonder if the Inquisition will be interested in this."

"I actually meant another thing. Surely we will need that stuff more than them."

"Are...are you offering to steal that thing?"

"Oh, common, Danny. You can fly and become invisible. No one will notice."

"Now who is more of a sinner, you or me?"

Tuckers lips thinned. "You get what I mean."

"Normally I would have condemned this idea, but if we dont think up something, I am as good as dead. Dont you dare to make a joke out of this," the stark haired teen interrupted Tuckers attempt. The latter only raised his hands in acceptance.

Danny turned back to his human form and they went out of the forest down the small path. His friend decided not to comment on how casually Phantom had done that. The guy was certainly improving quickly, it had been only two days. The half ghost decided to talk about something off topic, like each others work. Tucker obviously wasnt going for a promotion, but his constant complaints, which were deemed annoying by many, were funny in Dannys opinion. Honestly, there wasnt a single person in England with such a large vocabulary of non-cussing insults as that tailor apprentices. He even used some words from his native African language or Arabian, which he had picked while being in Granada and sounded amusing twice as much.

"And can you imagine, that al'abalah hadnt payed me a single penny!" Tucker exclaimed.

"You should have called the guards," Danny responded.

"And what should I have told him? Hey, good sir, that bad sir doesnt want to pay me for my dirty clothes? Im payed too few already."

"You arent being payed at all."

"Hitting a sore spot here. But at least I dont live like many 'free' peasants do."

As they were passing the towns border, Danny started to cough. Tucker looked curiously as a gust of air went out of his friends mouth. It was too warm around for the breath to be visible. Phantom seemed confused as well, rubbing the back of his neck and indicating that he didnt know what that meant.

The teens continued going through the street. They stopped near a large keep. As in many settlements, it was the largest building. There was nothing special about it, a castle was a castle.

"So, whats the plan?" Danny asked.

"Simple, you can find a secluded place, become invisible and fly there."

"Hmm, well, I am not complaining."

They went into an alleyway, where Phantom turned into ghost form.

"Are you coming with me or..."

"How am I supposed to? I dont have powers from another world. Just be careful out there without me."

Danny rolled his now neon green eyes. "I just go in, take that scrap metal and go out, what can go wrong?" He asked in an echoing voice.

Tucker shrugged, before Phantom became invisible. Danny demonstrated his newfound abilities while flying above the street and through the wall of the castle. Too sad that no one noticed his steady flight. Danny softly landed on the floor in one of the corridors. It looked rather nice, with a red carpet going through it and a suit of armor standing near one of the doors.

Oh, wait, that was a guard. The pieces of armor couldnt snore.

Phantom quietly went in front of the armored man. His steps didnt even create a rustle on the carpet. The teen never was in that place, like the blacksmiths son would ever be invited to the barons keep. But Danny guessed that an object of such importance and, well, potential evidence to be called a heretic must be kept in a secure place, probably the dungeons. And they were usually bellow the surface. Thats why the teen searched for the staircase. His invisibility was still standing.

Soon Danny was in the underground – a wine cellar, to be exact. It was tempting to grab a bottle, but Phantom decided against stealing. Then a gust of air went out of his throat again.

"Ugh, what is this stuff, its not cold here," Danny muttered, looking around.

Suddenly he heard a rustle behind the crates. Worrying, but curious, the teen peaked from behind the corner. There was a small slightly overweight man in a fur hat and the most simple of clothes. Danny would have passed without any worries, but the guy was glowing and had a blue skin. It couldnt be THAT cold down there?

By accident Danny hit the bottle and it fell on the ground, shattering into pieces. Phantom flinched and the small man turned to him in a blink. There was a moment of silence as the two stared at each other. The man then narrowed his eyes, but the appearance didn't look that menacing.

"Uhm, hello," Danny waved his hand awkwardly.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY DOMAIN?!" The man bellowed, floating in the air and pointing an accusing finger at the teen.

"Oh, I...was passing by...Who are you?"

Phantom was strangely calm about seeing another ghost, demon, whatever. The guy really seemed harmless.

"I AM THE LORD OF ALL THINGS SQUARE, I..."

"Shh, pal, can you be more quiet? The humans can find us."

"SO WHAT?! I AM THE FEARFUL BOX GHOST! I FEAR NO MORTAL!"

Danny burst into laughter, grabbing his stomach.

"STOP LAUGHING!"

Box Ghost launched the nearest crate at the ghost teen, but Phantom saw the movement and managed to become intangible. The projectile flew through him and hit the nearest wall. It crumbled into pieces with a loud sound. Danny didn't hear any footsteps, but he decided not to test his luck.

"Alright, I'm sorry," the teen raised his hands. "But please, lower your voice. Can you answer a few questions?"

He tried to calm the ghost down, or the little man would have called every guard around.

"Oh, so you wish to learn the Box Ghost's wisdom?"

"Eh, yes. Were you always here?"

"No, and I seriously regret that. This place is a haven! So much boxes!" Boxy opened his eyes widely, sitting on one of the crates. And even then he was smaller than Phantom.

Danny raised his eyebrow, "Then where did you come from?"

"From the Ghost Zone, of course! There is a portal not so far away."

The teen froze. "Is it in the forest by any chance?"

"Indeed! It opened just a few days ago."

It couldn't be...Danny put a hand on his chin and rubbed it. That damn cultists opened a gateway to hell just behind the corner. Phantom sighed and looked at the ground, rubbing the back of his neck. Everything just kept getting better.

"And now every...ghost can come here?"

"Well, the King's guards are nothing compared to me, the Box Ghost! They haven't even noticed that I sneaked out. It is much better to live here."

Danny's thoughts were now on the conversation. Despite the obvious size of ego, Box Ghost was actually the first ghost the teen met, who didn't speak in riddles or tried to kill him. More than once. He was really curious.

"And what Pariah is like?"

"You must be a newcomer. How did you die, kid?"

"I...eh..."

"Waaait a second, are you actually not offended by this?"

"Should I?"

"Yes, it was really rude. I was just checking. Once again, my cunning showed its results! Anyways. Pariah has been ruling over our world for four hundred years, and so you know, don't go there. He is a horrible tyrant, who cannot be defeated even by me, and I am the Box Ghost! But not many get to even see his image, I am not an exception, so I cannot describe him. But that's enough to stay away from him and his men."

Then Danny preceeded to ask tons of other questions about the other world. And Box Ghost was happy to look wise and knowing. The teen didn't really know how much time passed, and there was nothing interrupting them. Danny surely learnt a lot about the other world, about its features, how it was built and how it worked. It seemed that such things were a common knowledge there. But then the ghosts heard the footsteps and turned invisible. Two men dressed in simple clothes went into direction where the bottles with wine were. While one of them was holding a torch, the other was rummaging through the piles.

"Common, John, Baron Baxter won't tolerate further delays. Brr, it's cold down here."

"Oh, don't be such a crybaby. I found it, just what he needs for a wonderful dinner."

With that they went off, and the ghosts became visible again. Danny's eyes were wide in surprise.

"Is it evening already?" He asked.

"But of course, I knew that, just didn't know you needed to know this."

"Oh, and why did you became invisible? You said you aren't afraid of the humans."

"I...decided to spare them."

Phantom snorted slightly. "You don't mind if I come again?"

"I give you my permission. Be honored, I don't usually have time for the newbies."

For some reason Danny doubted this. "Oh, one more thing. Have you seen some metal thing, you know, which glows green and can shoot...something."

"Oh, you mean this?"

Box Ghost dived in between the crates and took a medium sized chest. He opened it and indeed there were pieces of silvery metal. One part looked almost undamaged. Danny grinned and was about to take them, but decided to ask first.

"Can I take them?"

The full ghost shrugged. "Sure, I was about to empty it anyway. I only need this beautiful chest," he patted its top.

Phantom scooped the metal parts in his arms and smiled again.

"Thanks, I'll be here tomorrow."

"You must make me a favor as well. If someone asks, you don't know where I am."

Danny nodded and turned invisible, before flying out of the room.

 **A.N. I hope you don't mind my take on Ol' Boxy.**


	6. Chapter VI: Angry neighbors

**A.N. I love history. That's why this story is also interesting to me. Everything not concerning DP characters is actual truth. Or partial truth.**

A few weeks passed after Danny got his hands on what Skulker had left behind. It was surprising that the hunter was absent for so long, but Phantom was not complaining. He needed time.

The remnants of Skulker's weird weapon were in surprisingly good condition. For something blown from inside. Danny and Tucker spent all their time in their safe spot in the forest, fiddling with that thing. It was something beyond their understanding, with a lot of strange and thin copper rods wrapped in the colorful material. Everything it did was glow with the same green color as always. A few times it sparkled with green lighting and painfully stung them. Phantom showed it to the only other known ghost, but Boxy was as dumb as the objects of his desire, despite all the bragging.

Baxters flipped once they found out that their precious object was stolen. Not that they would have told this to anyone, Danny just happened to be flying nearby.

But there was something Box Ghost was useful in. The guy knew the most basic ghostly things, so he could teach them. The stuff like becoming intangible, invisible without any accidents. There were also ectoblasts - beams of energy expulsing from the ghosts' hands and which could cause certain damage. Boxy wasn't able to leave a scratch on the tree. Phantom tried to follow the instructions, and did the same thing, but he actually left a smoking hole in the tree's center. He could see through it, and that was actually a good result for the first time.

All in all, those were acceptable results. But Danny payed more attention to one thing - flying. It was the most amazing thing he had ever experienced. Phantom never could explain exactly how wonderful it felt, but to put it in one word - he felt free. Being up in the blue sky, from where his homeland looked like a patched blanket, with dark green forests, bright green grasslands, shining yellow fields of grain. Too sad he could do it only mostly at night, fearing that someone could spot him. There were also disappointments, Danny thought that the clouds were solid. But no, he just fell through one when he tried.

Jack just couldn't be more happy, too naive to understand how abrupt the change in his son was. But it was fine to him, Danny was improving, and that's all that mattered. But he was worried, worried about that demons who were coming out of nowhere. Baron Baxter had sent a letter to the guy, who knows the guy, who can pass the message to Rome. If the Pope himself learns about it, there would be a hope. But it was unlikely, who would believe such a ridiculous story? The son of the Devil in some forgotten place, bruh. If he wanted to do something, he would have appeared in the center of Christianity. Danny, after coming up with such a line of deduction at the dinner, he was ready to sigh in relief.

Phantom was sitting on the edge of the church roof, his legs hanging over the empty air. That part was turned to the valley and later the forest, so he wasn't worried about being seen. He was in the ghost form, in case he fell, in order to fly when needed. But Danny wasn't against it, he didn't feel any discomfort because of it. However, in the calm moments like this he was always thinking, sometimes it went within the borders of philosophy.

Who knew that the dead could be the great thinkers? When a person crosses the line everyone fears - death, all usual axioms seem not so solid. Of course, it didn't mean that Danny was going to break the moral boundaries he had been taught. No, it's just that the basic laws of life were mistaken, or at least misunderstood. Phantom wondered about such things, after all, he was half dead already.

Deciding that there was enough philosophy for one night, Danny rose on his legs, before walking up to the top. He carefully peaked out in case someone was looking, before remembering that he could become invisible. So, in that condition the half ghost flew above the town. It seemed so small from above, and besides the inn which seemed to work all day and night long, the light in the houses was absent. He decided to wander around for a while.

Suddenly his neon eyes caught the movement. Curious about what could a man possibly do in a dark alleyway at night, Danny approached the place, standing on the roof above.

"Look, Will, I've already paid you the money, why are you still following me?" The female voice sounded.

"'Cause that's not all, Julia, you know that."

Danny rolled his eyes. Was he really looking at the most unthreatening assault? Oh, wait, he took a knife. The things were escalating quickly.

"Back off!" Julia exclaimed, before being shushed.

L

"Shh, quiet, dear, we don't want anyone to hear us, right?" William whispered.

"I think you've failed here."

The assaultant spun around, knife at the ready, but saw nothing behind. He blinked, wondering if he misheard it. But once he turned back, he saw Danny, who was giving an innocent grin. All he lacked was the golden halo. Another feature was that he was hanging upside down in the air. The man jumped in fright, gripping his weapon tightly so his palms were getting sweaty. He knew who was floating near him.

"Begone!" He yelped, swinging his weapon.

"Oh, no, it's a knife, please remove it, my weakness is small knives!" Danny cried dramatically. He then used telekinesis to swipe it away, the knife flew into the barrel and pierced it. "Oh, wait, I lied," Phantom deadpanned, landing on the ground soundlessly.

"Wh-What do you want, demon?" William asked in fear.

Danny tilted his head. His calm expression was unnerving. "Well, I just happened to pass nearby and overhear your little chat."

"And..."

"And you better get lost and don't tell anything about what happened here," Phantom's hand flickered with flames - cold and green. "Otherwise it can get nasty. But we don't want this, right?"

"Y-yes, I-I mean no..."

"You still here?"

At these words the man ran off faster than a horse. Then Danny turned around and looked at the woman. She was shaking, cowering deeper into the corner. The half ghost sighed, hunching his shoulders overdramatically.

"I don't know what has happened between you two, neither do I care. So...keep your skirt down, I won't save you twice."

With this Danny became invisible, flying off to the roof. As he landed, the half ghost dropped his cover, thinking. It actually felt nice. And somewhat ironic. So, he had just used the devious power to save the weak, quite the opposite of what he was expected to do. It just felt like the right thing. After all, he was gifted with power beyond anyone's imagination. He had to put it to use, otherwise it would end in two ways. Either he was going to be burned down, or the owner of that power was going to do something much worse. He couldn't just sit idly and do nothing. Maybe, just maybe, he was going to prove that he wasn't what the people thought him to be. Quite unlikely, but it was worth trying.

His face brightened. Then he flew up in the air. It was going to be a long night.

Phantom found several crimes. Never he thought that there were so many in their town. But Danny was there to save the ungrateful victims, to 'advice' the thieves to put the stolen goods back. They always complied. However, one time there was one especially stubborn mugger.

"C'mon, old man, give the money. Now!" The gruff looking man threatened the shaking one.

"You aren't very original with the demands."

He looked back and Danny was leaning against the wall, yawning. "Let's just go through the standard procedure and be off. I really could use some sleep right now."

"You are that demon brat," the mugger said in realization. "Healing quite fast, are we?"

"Yep. So...maybe you are going to be a good boy and drop the dagger?"

"Why should I be afraid of the lad who was used as a broom?"

He then lunged forward and swiped the dagger. The man found himself behind the half ghost. Danny turned around, grinning from ear to ear, showing his sharp teeth.

"I was weakened at the time," Phantom lied smoothly. "But even so, I'm more powerful than any of you, mortals."

Damn, he loved such acting.

The bandit swung the blade again. Danny wasn't much of a fighter, but his reaction compensated for it. He twisted the hand and smirked, before blasting him in the chest. The man screamed in pain and staggered backwards as his chest smoked, revealing his burned chest from the formed hole.

"I don't understand myself why I'm giving chances to the likes of you," Danny mumbled. "I'm supposed to be the last one to talk about forgiveness."

"Spare me your talk!"

"Alrighty then. How are you, old man?"

He was shaking just as much, but since he was asked a question, he nodded.

"Y-yes, I-I'm fine, thank you..."

"Well, then my job here is done. And for the note, my name is Phantom, remember it properly."

Danny woke up with bags under his eyes. Of course he would have them, he slept for about what? Three hours? Phantom got into sitting position, the hay bed rustling beneath him. He rubbed his face, praying to god that all of this wasn't pointless. Danny got up from the bed, walking out of the room after putting on his robes. Phantom immediately heard his father's talk.

"Can you believe it, Mads?" Jack asked loudly, hitting the table with his hand. "That brat is still running around. Pretending that he is a good person. A DEMON!"

"Jack, calm down, the oatmeal doesn't come from nowhere," Maddie said, seeing as the plate was about to crash on the ground.

"Sorry, honey, I'm just pissed off at this ridiculous play!"

Danny yawned maybe too loudly, causing the adults to look at him.

"Oh, good morning, sweetie," Maddie smiled. "Has Jack woken you up?"

"Uhm, no, Mom," Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Just slept roughly for some reason."

"Don't worry, son, you won't have to work today."

Phantom perked up. "Really?"

"Yes, we are almost finished, so I will manage it myself. Since you worked so hard, I think you deserve some reward."

Danny beamed. "Thanks, Dad."

After eating breakfast, the teen immediately went into the town. He was really curious if the rumors started spreading already. And he wasn't disappointed. Phantom was actually the major topic of many conversations, be it a good thing or a bad one. Mostly people were just confused at his action. Father Johnson, however, was louder than anybody, saying that all of that was just a ruse to lower their guard and eat their souls. Danny couldn't help but snort, he really could use something but porridge. Although he wasn't sure if he could actually do that.

"Danny! There you are!" Tucker's voice sounded from the side.

Phantom turned away from the crowd and looked at his panting friend.

"Hey, Tuck."

"What the heck, man?!" He whisper yelled. "What have you done?"

Danny gestured for his friend to go aside so as not let anyone hear them. Finally, as they squelched through the muddy street under a sticking roof, Phantom continued.

"I just helped out some people," he shrugged, before chuckling. "You should have seen their faces."

"Man, I thought we wanted to stay put and not to show up!"

"Remark. YOU wanted. Look, Tucker, I need some practice in case some other ghost comes and tries to kill me. They didn't put much of a fight, though."

Tucker rubbed his face. "You are unbearable, Danny. Why am I friends with you, again?"

"Because I can sneak you inside the girls' bath?"

"Yeah, that too."

Suddenly they heard a trumpet. That usually meant that the herald had an announcement. That man, stepping on the wooden platform near the gallows, was not the local, people would recognize their own herald easily judging by the clothes. He was wearing green and black robes, with additional golden parts, unlike white and red of Baxters the locals had come to get used to. The young adult coughed loudly.

"I come to announce to the people of Amity Park on behalf of His Lordship, Earl of Shrewsbury, Shire of Chester, etcetera, etcetera - Jeremy Wulfric Manson. My Lord wishes to stay here for several days before moving to his Welsh holdings. Treat the newcomers as they deserve by their noble status. Feel honored for housing such guests."

The herald proceeded with some other details, but Danny thought about something else. Tucker looked at his friend's thoughtful trance in confusion.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked.

"Oh, it's nothing, pal. I just met him before, when he bought a sword made by Dad."

"What would he want to do here?" Tucker rubbed his chin.

"Dunno. Although I heard rumors about that Welsh Prince...what's his name...Dafydd?"

"Wow, even my homeland's names aren't that complicated."

Danny looked at him with a deadpan expression. "His last name is ap Gruffudd."

"How do you know?"

"First, we are near Wales, if you haven't noticed. Two, I can listen to the conversations among the merchants. Dafydd raided some of the King's cities, Deheubarth and North Powys, as I remember. Dinefwrs obey our King Edward. Mansons are his relatives, see the connection?"

"You know, for a blacksmith's kid, you understand a lot," Tucker said dryly.

"Oh, Tuck, I'm now half demon, intrigues are my specialty," Danny smirked.

The dark skinned teen didn't like the joke, nor the smirk, nor the sharper teeth seen through it.

In a few following days the carriage of the named Earl arrived to the town. It was an evening. Unlike his last visit, there wasn't a single hint of being discreet. He wasn't alone this time, with him was a group of heavily armored knights in the perfectly clean shining armor. Each wore a different one, according to their families' wealth. Weapons were also different, some had simple longswords and shields, some had halberds. Danny noticed a guy, probably a scotsman, with a huge claymore tied to his back. But despite the differences, they were obviously noble enough.

Earl didn't pay any attention to the crowd, riding his steed in front of procession. They got to the castle, and Phantom decided that it was time for him to act. His curiousity needed to be satisfied. Standing in an alleyway, Danny turned into his ghost form. A little espionage wasn't going to harm anyone, he was doing it only for himself.

Phantom flew through the air, seeing that the soldiers were replacing Baxter's guards. Obviously the noble didn't trust that of the lesser rank and ancestry. Inside he saw a group of five people. Two of them were adult Baxters, and the man, who was the exact copy of his son, was speaking to the blond Earl. Behind them went two women. One was a mid aged woman with red hair, tightly combed, and blue eyes, wearing vivid red dress. Near her was a person familiar to the half ghost. It was Sam, of course, and she had a look of utter disdain, she obviously wasn't happy being there. Danny heard a conversation between two females.

"Sammy-kins, why the long face?" The redhead asked quietly.

"Mother, I asked not to call me like that," Said Sam gloomily. "I hate all these ceremonies."

"Hush, child, you will have to get used to this. Once you marry, such things will be quite often."

It didn't brighten the raven haired girl's mood. Once again, for a moment Danny found her lilac eyes enticing. But he managed to snap out of it, eavesdropping on the men, floating right above their heads.

"Once again, Lord Manson, I am honored by your visit," Baxter said, putting a hand on his chest.

"Don't try to sweet talk me, William," Interrupted Jeremy. Danny kept himself from whistling. Damn, that guy was straightforward. "I'm already paying you for housing. This fact alone proves your words to be a pointless flattery."

Phantom grinned. He liked that man, he would have liked the Devil himself if he bashed that bastards. The expression on William's face was priceless.

"Oh..." he mouthed.

"And what about that 'demon' talks?" Asked Jeremy.

"Nothing at all, sire, just peasants' superstitions. You shouldn't worry about it."

"I certainly hope so," the Earl narrowed his cold eyes. "I'm here on behalf of His Majesty, I expect assistance."

"Whatever you wish," William bowed his head.

The group then split into two parts. Sam and her mother went one way, while Jeremy had something to talk through with Baxter. Danny listened to the second group, their wish for privacy and locking of the door caught his interest. The Earl wasn't wearing an armor, so he calmly sat at the posh chair near the fireplace one of the servants had ignited a few minutes ago. William sat nearby.

"Are there any news from the border provinces?"

"Why do you ask?"

Jeremy's hard look made the lower noble understand that he wasn't going to receive an answer straightforwardly.

"Nothing, sire. After the attacks on our cities the Welsh are idle. For a while at least."

"Dafydd gets out of hand. His brother doesn't do anything with this rogue. Which means that the Prince actually supports this bandit. I talked with Edward about it."

It made two other present people stare at him in awe. The man should have been really influential to casually call His Majesty by name.

"And what did he say?" William asked.

"His conquest from five years ago will be proven pointless shall the Welsh unite again and win. This is something we both understand. His Majesty doesn't hold any trust for his newest vassals in this God forgotten province. They will flock to the enemy the second Llywelin, and I'm sure that our lovely Prince of Wales will come, bangs at their gates."

"What do you intend to do?"

"Some fellow Shires and Earls are going to visit this place soon. From here, we will be moving to...God damn these Welsh and their language, what's their capital name? Abergarthcelyn, that's it."

"And His Majesty?"

"He will be joining us soon enough. But it doesn't concern you, leave me."

William bowed and left. Danny could hear him muttering curses at the Earl.

Danny, with his head full of the new information, flew through the wall, thinking. He was worried, Amity Park was just on the border. Shall the enemies of the English Crown attack, it was a potential candidate for razing. He prayed that it wasn't going to happen. Manson had just put a pointing sign, saying 'Burn this town to the ground'. Of course he didn't care, it wasn't his holding.

In his thoughts and looking at the ground, Phantom didn't notice anything in front of him. He bumped into one of the guards. Manson's. Danny dropped the invisibility by accident, rubbing his head. Two soldiers turned around and saw him. They hadn't heard anything about the half ghost, neither they saw him flick into visibility, so they didn't initially react to his unusual appearance. All they saw was a kid.

"Who the hell are you?" One of them asked.

Danny, for some reason, decided to be playful. He tilted his head, trying to look calm in front of two armed, obviously trained, soldiers.

"You mean you don't know?"

"In case you haven't noticed, lad, we are dressed too good for this pig hole."

"I am dressed nicely too," Danny deadpanned, holding the edge of his black and white robes.

"You are dressed like an idiot."

"Hey, this is the peak of fashion in Gehenna, so to say."

One of the guards looked at the other, whistling and making circles around his temple, while holding a halberd in his other hand. A very sharp halberd.

"Alright, weirdo, you got yourself a trip to the dungeons."

"Why? I am just having a decent conversation. How often do you see those of my kin doing that?"

The guards seemed not amused. One of them tried to grab him, but Danny jumped away.

"Alright, now I just..."

He didn't turn invisible. Well, crap.

The guards started chasing him, and Danny resorted to his old way of solving problems with stronger enemies. He was running faster than before. He tried to turn invisible again, but couldn't.

'What a perfect moment!' He yelled inside his head.

Phantom came up with an idea of hiding somewhere, because, damn, his pursuers were fast, which actually should have been impossible in their armor. Danny tried to phase through the nearest door, thank goodness he was able to do that. Soon he heard rapid footsteps pass the door. Phantom sighed in relief, putting hands on his knees. He took a look at his surroundings, seeing that he wasn't actually alone.

Staring into Sam's purple eyes.


End file.
